Augusta Public Transit Director Heyward Johnson's prediction came true.
After dozens of irate bus riders blasted his plan to cut Saturday service at a public meeting last month, he said he didn't think Augusta commissioners would go ahead with it.
The commission's four-member Public Services Committee voted unanimously Monday to keep Saturday buses running. The motion by Commissioner Corey Johnson also softened proposed fare increases, with the price of boarding a bus rising from $1 to $1.25, rather than to $1.50 as the transit director suggested. It will be the first bus fare increase since 2001.
Transfers won't be eliminated but will increase from 35 to 50 cents. Mr. Johnson wanted to increase monthly passes from $50 to $55, but that issue wasn't addressed.
Although sure to please riders, the decision jeopardizes commissioners' plan to get through 2009 without a tax rate increase.
City Administrator Fred Russell had asked Mr. Johnson to cut $1.5 million from Public Transit to make up for a deficit. Cutting Saturday service accounted for $1.2 million, and the fare increase approved Monday will generate only about $108,000, he said.
The bus service loses about $4 million per year, which in the past has been compensated for through budget surpluses.
Mr. Russell recommended commissioners endorse state legislation that would allow them to collect another sales tax for public transit. If the tax were raised a quarter of a cent, it would raise $8 million per year. A 1-cent increase would raise $32 million.
But that won't help with this year's budget, and commissioners expressed frustration Monday.
Commissioner Calvin Holland said businesses that get lucrative contracts with the city should pony up by helping Public Transit sell ads on buses.
"We're continually giving things away, but we're not getting anything back," he said. "We're not a charity organization."
Mr. Johnson asked if the transit director and Mr. Russell could be tasked with finding a solution, to which Commissioner Jimmy Smith replied that Mr. Russell's bag of tricks has a hole in it.
"The magic bag isn't as magic as it used to be," Mr. Russell said.
Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Mason said the city is looking at public transit the wrong way. Instead of serving only the poor and disabled, it should be expanded into a citywide service that earns more revenue and doesn't have to be subsidized by taxpayers who don't use it, he said.
Commissioner Betty Beard questioned why the city isn't being more proactive about requesting aid from President-elect Obama's proposed stimulus package. The city has submitted a list of infrastructure needs to the state Department of Transportation, but has made no direct requests of Washington.
Mayor Deke Copenhaver, who's spearheading that effort, said U.S. Rep. John Barrow has told him stimulus funds will be dispersed in a competitive grant program, and early lists -- such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors' $96.6 billion request on behalf of 641 cities -- are meaningless.
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
In other business
- Commissioner Jimmy Smith gave the Engineering Services Committee a plan for reinvigorating the Regency Mall property if the city can acquire it. The city's working list of projects for the next special purpose sales tax package includes $8 million to buy and demolish the defunct mall. The plan includes a mixed-income development with public housing units.
- The Engineering Services Committee voted 3-0, with J. R. Hatney abstaining, to approve a contract split between two companies hired to do the same job in the construction of the new judicial center. Graves Engineering was hired to do ground testing and construction materials inspections in 2003, outbidding two other companies and being given a letter of authorization to do the work "for the duration of the design and construction of the new judicial center." Last year, company President Rick Swanson found out the city had awarded a $240,257 contract to ATC Associates Inc., and protested. City Administrator Fred Russell worked out a deal to avoid a lawsuit, with Graves focusing on ground testing and ATC on testing masonry, concrete, asphalt and pavement.
- The Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a false alarm ordinance, which accounted for $150,000 of Mr. Russell's proposal to make up a $3.4 million deficit in the 2009 law enforcement budget. Under the ordinance, businesses and homeowners will be fined after the third time a faulty alarm system summons a deputy. The fines are $25 for the fourth and fifth alarms, $50 for the sixth and seventh, and $100 thereafter.
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