ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
Dwindling federal subsidies for Valley Metro have cost city taxpayers $570,000 in the past two years. Now there are signs of at least a small respite.
The federal government has told Valley Metro it probably will postpone further reductions in federal subsidies for the bus system for a year.
Although they will still be picking up the difference from the previous round of cuts in federal aid, taxpayers would save about $200,000 in the next budget year because of the postponement.
It also would buy a little time for local officials to sell the public and the area's state lawmakers on a proposed gasoline tax to fund the bus system.
The news came during a City Council meeting Monday. Council sits as the board of directors of the quasi-public bus company.
"That is good news, but I want to stress that we still need to plan for future reductions," said Councilman William White, chairman of council's legislative subcommittee.
That panel is expected to ask the General Assembly again this year for authority to set up a special tax district. Its request fell on deaf ears last year, when no local member of the House of Delegates would consider the gas tax.
Federal support for Valley Metro, and other urban mass transit systems across the county, has been declining since July 1, 1995. Two years ago, the federal government was providing about $950,000 in annual support for Valley Metro. This year, it sent $574,000.
"What that means is for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 1997, we're expecting the exact same amount of federal assistance [as this year]," said Stephen Mancuso, Valley Metro's general manager.
"What it means to the taxpayer isn't known until we fully develop our budget for next year, but it's certainly welcome news when you consider that federal money in each of the last two years has been reduced by $190,000. We had been been expecting another $190,000 to $225,000 cut," Mancuso added.
In an action that was somewhat related, council on Monday directed the city administration to prepare a study of the feasibility of merging the mass transit system with the city school bus operation.
Councilman Carroll Swain said he wants that information on council's desk before members put the finishing touches on next year's budget. That will happen late next spring.
"This is a burden on the taxpayer," Swain said near the end of council's afternoon session. "Why is it that we have two bus systems running in the city at the expense to the taxpayer?"
Other localities - such as Norfolk - use their mass transit systems to carry students to public schools. The question of merging Roanoke's systems has been studied before, but the idea was dropped.
One reason is that Valley Metro drivers, as employees of a private company, have the right to unionize - and to strike. School bus drivers have no such right.
Voting with Swain for the study were Councilmen Jack Parrott, William White, Jim Trout and Mayor David Bowers. Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt, a city school teacher, voted against the study, as did Councilman Nelson Harris, former chairman of the School Board.
Wyatt noted that school bus drivers must pass criminal background checks. They also are responsible for disciplining students who act up on the bus, she said.
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