Together Baton Rouge: Help CATS again

Officials try to save bus system

Sophie Kunen’s aunt is 64 years old and works at a McDonald’s 3 miles from her home but Kunen said it takes her aunt two hours to get to the restaurant.

Kunen told an audience of about 225 people at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church on Tuesday that what would be a 10-minute drive for her aunt who cannot operate a car, is a four-hour round trip, via the Capital Area Transit System.

CATS, the public bus system for East Baton Rouge Parish, is already failing her Aunt Lisa, Kunen said.

CATS is facing a budget deficit of $2.1 million for 2012, which means the agency may be forced to reduce service hours by 46 percent, said CATS Chief Financial Officer Gary Owens.

This year, CATS suffered a budget deficit of about $1.4 million that was remedied by some one-time grants that came through in July, just before the agency ran out of money.

“As the CATS system is already insufficient, the ensuing threat of a 46 percent cut in service hours is unthinkable and unacceptable,” Kunen said at a Together Baton Rouge luncheon, held to educate the public about CATS’ impending budget crisis.

Together Baton Rouge, a faith-based grass roots organization, is raising awareness about the importance of city-parish’s bus system to both riders and non-riders, while “turning up the heat and the pressure” on local leaders to find a solution to CATS’ budget problems, said the Rev. Mark Holland, a Together Baton Rouge leader.

Together Baton Rouge played an important organizational role in the Blue Ribbon Commission, a group of local leaders appointed by Mayor-President Kip Holden earlier this year to draft solutions to the parish’s long-term transportation problems.

The group proposed going to the Legislature this summer to create a special taxing district, and to ask voters to support a combination of sales taxes and property taxes next fall that would fund a broader, more reliable bus system.

The dedicated tax would provide guaranteed funding for CATS, and could put an end to the agency’s recurring financial vulnerability.

The Rev. Lee Wesley, a Together Baton Rouge leader, likened fixing CATS’ yearly budget shortfalls to filling the cracks of a structure with a weak foundation.

“We’re treating the symptom and not the real problem,” he said. “CATS has a shaky foundation.”

The Rev. Raymond Jetson, who chaired the Blue Ribbon Commission for transportation, said passing the tax proposal would create a strong foundation for CATS.

But he added that it was important to help CATS find gap funding one last time, because the publicity of a failing bus system in 2012 could derail the tax election.

“Unless we are able to deal with this reoccurring ‘crack’ one last time, the system will be in such dire straits that nobody will believe it’s worthy of fixing long term,” Jetson said.

At least five of the 12 Metro Council members attended the luncheon, and Together Baton Rouge officials asked them to commit to working with the group to solve the immediate funding emergency.

Councilman Chandler Loupe told the group he was frustrated to be having the same conversation about CATS problems again this year because he said he thought council members “sent the mayor a clear message last year,” about their expectations for the troubled bus system.

CATS, which has a budget comprised of local, state and federal funding, requested $5.4 million from the city-parish general fund this year, but Holden’s proposed budget allocated $2.9 million to the agency.

“Our annual budget is $745 million, and you’re telling me we can’t find $2 million in the budget for CATS?” Loupe said, aiming his comments at Holden’s administration. He added that the council would try to find the money.

Holden did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

CATS budget deficit stems from the continued loss of federal and state funding. The agency is projecting $12.6 million in revenues for 2012.

Owens said CATS is still hurting from the 2009 loss of its $2.4 million contract with LSU. CATS has also lost more than $1 million in federal funding over the past two years, coupled with rising gas prices and maintenance costs, he said.

CATS has managed to survive year-to-year by securing one-time budget supplements to cover the deficits in recent years. The agency attempted to secure a property tax in 2010, but voters narrowly rejected it.

CATS also proposed service cuts last year to balance its budget. The Metro Council rejected the proposed cuts because members thought the changes, which included eliminating weekend service and increasing fares, would be too painful for low-income riders, many of whom rely on CATS to get to and from work.

At the CATS Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, board members instructed CATS staff to present three scenarios to the council:

• a fully functioning, efficient bus system operating within a smaller footprint.
• a bus system with its existing footprint, with reduced hours, most likely eliminating weekend and holiday service.
• a bus system operating at the status quo, that would run out of money by July.

CATS will make its case to the Metro Council on Nov. 29 at a budget hearing from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The Metro Council is scheduled to approve the final city-parish budget on Dec. 14, which will include CATS’ budget allocation.