The Williamsburg Area Transit Authority may have to accommodate a cost increase of more than $2 million in its fiscal year 2015 budget, preliminary figures show.
Projected cost increases associated with fuel, service, replacement vehicles and additional employees are anticipated to increase WATA’s budget $2.23 million over last year, WATA Executive Director Kevan Danker said. To cover the cost increase WATA will seek additional federal and state grant funding.
WATA’s Board of Directors met Jan. 15 to review the preliminary budget, which needed a vote to allow WATA staff to begin applying for state and federal grants, which account for nearly $5.5 million of WATA’s total $9.5 million preliminary budget. Last year’s budget totaled about $7.3 million and included about $3.34 million in state and federal grant funding.
This year, Danker planned to request an additional 3 percent from the Historic Triangle localities because grants WATA receives sometimes require a local funding match. The board voted against the increased request to localities because Danker included a 3 percent raise for employees in his planned budget.
As the localities head into planning their budgets, it is uncertain whether they will be giving employees raises. Jodi Miller, Williamsburg’s assistant city manager, said Williamsburg is struggling to find funding for a pay increase. At the board’s December meeting, Acting James City County Administrator Doug Powell, who was not present at the January meeting, told the board he thought the request for increased funding would be a tough sell to the localities and he could not support it.
Miller said she struggled with whether to approve the preliminary budget with the 3 percent increase in local funding if Danker also included a 3 percent raise for employees, as it could prove to be a fairness issue if localities cannot provide an increase to their employees.
Danker told the board the increased funding did not equal the pay raise. Operating costs and salaries are only covered partially by local funding, he said. Localities match about 24 cents for every dollar in operating costs, Danker told the board.
In the budget, Danker projected an increase of nearly $230,000 for salaries and benefits, but only $66,763 of that total was planned for raises. The increased contribution from the localities would have been about $39,480.
Next year Danker plans to add three new full-time dispatcher positions, one new driver position and three upgraded driver management positions, and he also expects increased healthcare and benefits costs. Danker projected a need for $227,530 to cover the new positions and increased healthcare and benefits costs.
Though the board voted to delete the 3 percent salary increase for employees from the budget, that did not eliminate the need for the increased locality funding because it would have been used for other pieces of WATA’s budget.
“If they take away $100 of local match, it may end up taking away $200, as an example, of total funding for us,” Danker said in an interview.
Without a local funding match available for some state and federal grants, some of those grants may be unavailable.
“My task now is to figure out how … to least affect WATA in the end. There may be more dollars decreasing out of the budget than the actual 3 percent they wanted us not to ask localities for,” Danker said.
Last year, WATA received $573,420 from James City County, $300,775 from the City of Williamsburg and $325,138 from York County. Danker will request the same amount from the localities this year.
WATA also received $35,000 each from the City of Newport News and Surry County. This year, Danker plans to request 5 percent additional funding from each of those localities.
Combined, the five localities contributed almost $1.27 million to WATA last year. If the localities contribute the funding Danker was approved to request, WATA would receive an additional $3,500 this year.
Even if WATA receives the full funding it requests, some services or items may need to be cut from the budget.
In addition to the new and upgraded staff positions, Danker planned to purchase three new buses to replace old ones, two small fuel-efficient buses to expand routes, new bus shelters, a ticket vending machine to replace the closed Williamsburg Outlet Mall ticket and three support SUVs or minivans.
Danker also planned to add about 9,600 hours for on-call drivers. Those hours would be used to run special Williamsburg Trolley game and event trips and staff the ticket sales office at the City of Williamsburg’s Transportation Center.
Any of the additional purchases, positions and on-call hours could be at risk of being cut from the budget if WATA does not receive adequate funding.
Other threats to WATA’s funding come from a projected decrease in advertising revenue and some lost federal grant funding previously given for rural bus services. The federal map of rural and urban lands has been redrawn, designating some rural lands WATA services as urban.
Danker also projects WATA will receive less money from Thomas Nelson Community College because of funding problems the college is facing. Negotiations with TNCC are ongoing.
One funding change WATA will benefit from next year is the statewide fuel tax increase. The increase provided additional revenue WATA can use to keep the Williamsburg Trolley running on its regular and special event schedules.
“It [also] provided money for the few dispatchers to really help us improve our customer service and efficiency, so that was a big plus for WATA. … It came in at a good time,” Danker said.
With the board’s vote to request level local funding, Danker will be working to restructure the preliminary budget. He will approach to the board in February with a firmer grasp of what is at risk of being cut without the funding increase.