Washington County sets tax vote May 22

— Voters in Washington County will decide May 22 if they want to pay a 0.25 percent sales tax to help fund public transit.

The Washington County Quorum Court voted Thursday to put the issue on the primary election ballot.

The tax would bring in about $7.5 million a year to Ozark Regional Transit, said Phil Pumphrey, executive director of the system that serves parts of Washington and Benton counties. The additional money would allow the system to increase service from six fixed routes in Washington County to 28 over the next decade, he said.

If the tax passes, Ozark Regional Transit would also be able to buy about 30 new buses and 10 new vans; it has 19 buses and 11 vans now, Pumphrey said. Ozark Regional Transit also operates two routes in Benton County.

The matter is urgent, Pumphrey said, because Northwest Arkansas has passeda population threshold that will result in Ozark Regional Transit no longer using Federal Transit Administration grants for its operations.

Ozark Regional Transit receives about $1.16 million annually in the federal grants and about $700,000 of that is used for operations each year, Pumphrey said.

The change in funding could take effect as early as fiscal 2013, which starts in October.

Ozark Regional Transit has a $2.6 million annual budgetand receives about $730,000 in matching money from cities and counties, which would no longer be necessary if the tax passes, Pumphrey said.

The system’s federal grant money may not decrease, Pumphrey said, but the change still will feel like a funding cut because he can’t use the money where it’s needed - for operations.

U.S. Code Title 49, Section 5307(b)(1), calls for a change in the funding formula when an “urbanized area” reaches apopulation of 200,000.

After a region reaches that population threshold, grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation can be used for capital improvements, associated capital maintenance, planning and transit enhancements - but not for operating costs of equipment and facilities.

Statistics to be released March 26 will likely indicate Northwest Arkansas has passed that threshold, said Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission in Springdale. The area’s urbanized population was 172,585 in 2000, he said. Hawkins predicts the area’s 2010 urbanized population was between 225,000 and 250,000.

Hawkins argues that Ozark Regional Transit would get more money under the new funding formula.

“Much of the discussion and initiative, even the polls that have been done in the past, have been predicated on there being a substantial reduction in federal funds, and that is just not the case,” he said.

“This year in 2012, for transit purposes total, this area is expected to receive about $2.13 million,” he said. “When we go over 200,000, we are estimated to receive $2.97 million next year.”

That estimate is from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Hawkins said. The $2.97 million would be split between Ozark Regional Transit and Razorback Transit, which primarily serves the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Ozark Regional Transit gets 55 percent of the federal funding split between the two transit services.

Pumphrey said any increase in federal grant money would require local matching funds.

The federal law states that the money can’t be used for operations, and he might have to eliminate all of Ozark Regional Transit’s fixed bus routes as a result, he said.

But Hawkins said, the law has never been enforced.

“Exclusions have been granted for at least the last decade,” he said, adding that 52 regions in the U.S. went over the 200,000 threshold in 2000, and none of them lost the use of federal grants for operations.

At least 60 more regions will go over that threshold when the 2010 numbers come out, he said, and legislation is pending in Congress to make the exemptions permanent.

“No systems in the country have lost operating assistance flexibility since 1998,”said Hawkins. “There have been a lot of things said, assertions made, that aren’t necessarily correct. I think all the facts will come out and the public will be able to make an informed decision.”

Hawkins said he favors a dedicated funding source for transportation that includes public transit.

“For transit to get funded, the best opportunity is if it gets tied to roads,” he said.

The Northwest Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority, which was formed in 2008 to address transportation issues in Benton and Washington counties, suggested waiting until next year and proposing a combined measure for roads and transit, said Hawkins, a volunteer staff member for the authority.

In addition, voters statewide will consider a proposed half-percent sales tax to improve highways on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. The statewide proposal will include several highway projects in Northwest Arkansas, Hawkins said. Among them are the Bella Vista bypass, Springdale U.S. 412 bypass and the widening of Interstate 540.

“Northwest Arkansas would benefit tremendously by passage of the half-percent sales tax,” said Hawkins.

Thirty percent of the revenue from the proposed halfpercent sales tax would go back to cities and counties and could be used for transit projects, said Hawkins. But that’s no guarantee of funding for transit, Pumphrey said.

Ozark Regional Transit’s ridership has increased from 98,298 in 2006 to 260,779 last year, according to the transit system’s website, ozark.org.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/10/2012

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