Kalamazoo County Ballot Proposal

The Kalamazoo County Transportation Authority, County of Kalamazoo, Michigan was formed to operate and provide public transportation within the County of Kalamazoo and seeks authorization from the electors to levy up to 0. 45 mills for this purpose. Accordingly, for the purpose of providing public transportation services within Kalamazoo County, shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be imposed on taxable property in Kalamazoo County be increased by 0.45 mills, being 45 cents ($ 0.45) per thousand dollars ($ 1,000) of taxable value on all taxable property in Kalamazoo County for a period of two (2) years, being 2006 (collected in 2007) and 2007 (collected in 2008)? It is estimated that 0.45 mills would raise approximately $3,396,025 when first levied in 2006 and collected in 2007.

__Yes __No

Background

For many years the City of Kalamazoo has operated Metro Transit bus system, while the County of Kalamazoo operates a separate service, Care-A-Van.

• Metro runs fixed route bus service and a very limited door-to-door service (Metro Van) in parts of the urbanized areas of the county, including the cities of Kalamazoo, Portage, Parchment, and the townships of Oshtemo, Comstock and Kalamazoo. Those municipalities, as well as KVCC, have contracts with Metro Transit in which they pay for fixed route service in their areas. WMU pays for campus bus services under a separate service contract. In 2005 there were more than 3 million riders for all Metro Transit routes. For additional information, visit the website: www.kmetro.org

• Care-A-Van operates a curb-to-curb service countywide for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Based on May 2006 ridership information, approximately 77% of Care-A-Van trips are in the urban parts of the county; 23% are in the rural areas. Currently there are more than 3,000 registered users countywide. The service provides approximately 100,000 rides to registered users and others each year. For additional information, visit the website: www.kmetro.org/careavanhome.htm

The city and county merged these two systems in 2005 to avoid costly duplications. The county then formed a countywide transportation authority to begin building an integrated countywide transit system. The November millage question is one part of that effort.

Voters are being asked to approve a .45 mill countywide millage for community transportation in 2007 and 2008. This millage will cost $18.87 per year for a house with a market value of $100,000. This millage will raise $6.8 million over the next two years. It will:

Sustain existing services by addressing the projected deficit,
Increase the fund balance to 15% as recommended for cash flow purposes,
Provide needed fixed-route services in Portage,
Replace all contributions made by cities and townships, except for the City of Kalamazoo tax levy.

Rationale

Public transportation in the county is made possible by a combination of fare box revenue, state and federal funds, some local taxes and special contract. Federal and state funding have not increased at the same rate as operating expenses. While state operating assistance has slightly increased in dollars each year, the percentage of the total budget represented by state funding has declined from 38% in 2001 to 36.69% in 2003 to 32.43% in 2005.
Without the millage, Care-A-Van service will most likely cease to operate as of January 1, 2007. Fixed route service will also be cut approximately 9,000 service hours. It is likely that both evening and Saturday services would be eliminated.

Where to obtain additional information

Contact David Artley (384-8304 or dpartl@kalcounty.com) who is staffing the Kalamazoo County Transportation Authority at present.

The content source of this document is the Frequently Asked Questions handout published on 9/18/06 by Kalamazoo County Government.

These statements are not intended to indicate either support or opposition to the proposal by the League of Women Voters. We encourage voters to consider the rationale and other information, as needed, when they vote.