By KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff
Posted 8-20-08

Port Washington officials are considering ending the successful TransPort shared ride taxi service as they prepare to face one of the tightest budget years in recent history.

“I know people use it a lot. People do depend on it. But we’re talking about a nasty budget next year so everything’s on the table, I suppose,” said Ald. Tom Hudson, chairman of the Finance and License Committee. “Let’s keep it on the table then.”

Ending the program wouldn’t mean the end of taxi service in the city, officials stressed. The city would become part of the Ozaukee County shared-ride taxi program, which like the TransPort service is run by Specialized Transport Services.

The discussion, which began at the Finance and License Committee and continued at the Common Council meeting Tuesday, was prompted by the fact that the city’s contract with Specialized Transport Services expires at the end of the year.

The coming budget year promises to be difficult, officials said.

City Administrator Mark Grams said the city will only be allowed to increase its tax levy by 2%, or about $92,000, for 2009, Grams said.

To meet the expenditure restraint program, which provides the city with about $31,000 in aid, the city cannot increase its expenditures by more than 4%, or $329,000, he added.

Those are difficult goals, Grams said, since the city is facing increasing costs for fuel, energy, garbage collection and wages and fringe benefits and decreasing revenues from investments, building permits and impact fees.

“There are going to be a lot of things we’ll be looking at,” Grams said.

In addition to ending the shared-ride taxi, the city will look at whether it can remove the garbage and recycling collection from the tax levy and place it on the water utility bills, he said.

The taxi program, which costs about $250,000 annually, is financed with a combination of fares, state and federal funds and a city tax subsidy of about $40,000, Grams said.

Because of increasing costs, such as fuel, and decreasing state and federal aid, he predicted the local cost could increase 10% to 20%, to between $45,000 and $50,000.

State and federal subsidies have decreased significantly through the years, Grams said, from about 42% of the total budget when the program started to 32% today.

“It’s getting expensive to operate,” he said. “We have the county operating the same service. The question is do we want to duplicate services.”

The only real differences between the county and city programs are that the wait time is 15 minutes longer for the county program, but the fee is about 25 cheaper, he said.

“If we were all by ourselves, it would be different,” Grams said. “But residents would be able to use the county service.”

If the city were to end its shared-ride taxi service, Grams said he would recommend the city donate the one taxi it owns to the county program.

“It seems like a no-brainer,” Ald. David Larson, a member of the committee, said.

“You’ve got to be crazy not to do it,” added Ald. Burt Babcock, another committee member.

Because of the budget situation, he said, the city’s only other alternative would be to increase fares by $1 to $2.

However, Hudson said residents value the program, noting that vocal protests greeted aldermen the last time the city considered scuttling the taxi service.

He asked that the city seeks bids for the service from Specialized Transportation Services and other interested providers.

“It’s been a very popular program. I’d at least like to get the numbers,” he said. “I’d like to see exactly what our costs would be and see if that (county program) would be a better option for our citizens and our budget.”

Mayor Scott Huebner agreed, saying the service is important.

“To be responsible, we have to look at everything. Personally, I hope we can find the money somewhere to keep it. There are a lot of people who rely on it for school, for shopping,” he said.

Grams said the city’s shared-ride taxi made about 23,000 trips last year. The city charges $3 for adults and $2.25 for students and senior citizens for each ride within the city. An additional $1 is charged when people leave the city limits.