The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (AAATA) Board today unanimously approved a $37.2 million operating budget for the transit agency’s Fiscal Year 2014-15, which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2015.
“The 2015 fiscal year budget marks a transformative year of change in the history of public transportation in our community,” said AAATA Board Chair Charles Griffith. “On behalf of the AAATA Board, I applaud our staff for developing a financial blueprint that continues our history of strong fiscal stewardship, efficient use of taxpayer resources and delivery of quality service to our customers.”
The AAATA FY2014-15 budget includes projected operating revenues of $38.7 million, which includes nearly $4.7 million in additional revenue over last year’s budget following voter approval May 6 of a new 0.7-mill transit expansion millage that was collected for the first time in July in the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti as well as Ypsilanti Township.
The $37.2 million in spending reflects a nine percent increase over FY2013-14 to support higher levels of service that were overwhelmingly demanded by voters in this year’s election as part of the AAATA’s Five-Year Transit Improvement Program. The AAATA launched the program Aug. 24 with the introduction of expanded service hours in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. The FY2014-15 budget also funds the implementation of the second year of service improvements that will kick-off Aug. 30, 2015.
Highlights of the FY2014-15 budget include:
- Providing 786 service hours every weekday, 236 service hours on Saturdays and 110 service hours on Sundays, yielding about 220,000 total annual service hours.
- Hiring 22 new employees, including bus drivers and support staff, to accommodate increased demand for service.
- Employee pay and benefits will total $21.3 million, a rise of $2.6 million over last year to incorporate new hires for expanded service.
- Requiring non-union employees to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums for medical, dental and vision coverage and union employees to pay 15 percent.
- Allocating $3.85 million of the FY2014 transit millage levy and $1.05 million of the July, 2015 levy to purchase 11 new buses, eight of which will be delivered in August, 2015 in time for the next level of service improvements.
- Continuing support of the complementary ARide services, which are required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, along with additional demand response services, such as shared-ride senior service, NightRide and MyRide trip assistance.
- Continuing support for ExpressRide to and from Chelsea and Canton and AirRide services, which are maintained without using local property taxes.
- Continuing outreach activities to promote alternative transportation in AAATA’s getDowntown program, employer outreach and the increasingly popular VanRide program.
- State revenue growing by $1.1 million to a total of $11.0 million during FY2015 because AAATA’s eligible state aid reimbursement expenses are increasing.
- Federal revenue is increasing by $300,000 from $5.8 million last year to $6.1 million in FY2015.
- Budgeting for fuel is expected to stay at $3.25 per gallon with an expected use of 675,800 gallons of bio-diesel and 7,000 gallons of gasoline. Diesel fuel and gasoline costs are projected at $2.2 million in FY2015, compared to $2.1 million last year.
- A projected operating surplus of $1.46 million at the fiscal year’s end in September 2015. Those funds will be kept in reserve to cover costs associated with future bus purchases to meet planned service improvements.
