By Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal, August 11, 2010
Scores of Topekans attended Tuesday evening's city council meeting to show their support for keeping the property tax mill levy assessed by the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority at its current level.
No action was taken at the meeting, where 10 people — including three in wheelchairs and three who are vision-impaired — spoke in support of the TMTA as part of the council's public hearing on city manager Norton Bonaparte's proposed 2011 city budget.
Topeka's transit system is a vital part of people's lives, transit user Sandy Okruhlik told the council.
"It makes them self-sufficient," she said.
Councilman Bob Archer, who is seeking to lower the TMTA levy, told those on hand that he supports efficient and effective public transit but isn't convinced the TMTA provides that.
"Some people are saying 'Don't ask questions, don't rock the boat, it is what it is,' " Archer said. "I can't accept that."
The city's governing body, which consists of the nine council members and Mayor Bill Bunten, voted last year to raise the TMTA levy from 3 mills to 4.4 mills for the year 2010 only. That body plans Aug. 17 to finalize the 2011 city budget and also set the TMTA's mill levy for next year.
Archer revealed plans last week to ask the council to lower the TMTA's mill levy to 3.2 mills for 2011. The 1.2-mill decrease would bring an annual property tax cut of $13.80 for the owner of a $100,000 house.
Archer said an operational analysis the TMTA had conducted earlier this year showed the typical peak frequency is 60 minutes for cities that are peers of Topeka's in terms of public transportation, with the peak frequency being the frequency with which buses stop at a specific place during the busiest parts of the day. He said that by switching from a 30-minute peak frequency to a 60-minute peak frequency, the TMTA would achieve a $1.2 million savings that would enable it to accommodate the mill levy decrease.
But Kevin Siek, a volunteer for Topekans in Support of Public Transit, stressed that the TMTA board — and not the city council — makes operational decisions for the transit service. He suggested the TMTA board wouldn't change the peak frequency.
"What's most likely to happen is that evening and Sunday service will be the first to go," which would have devastating effects on people who depend on those services, he said.
Governing body members heard from TMTA officials during a work session following Tuesday's 2 1/2-hour regular meeting. Speakers at the session included Janlyn Nesbett-Tucker, the TMTA's chief executive officer, and Ted Rieck, senior transit planner with Kansas City, Mo.-based HDR. Rieck played a key role in conducting a study earlier this year of Topeka's bus service. The study concluded that if the TMTA is unable to assess its current property tax levy, a 35 percent reduction in its services will be necessary.
The TMTA provided governing body members documents that included an e-mail from Rieck, who acknowledged reducing the city's peak period service from 30 to 60 minutes would have net cost reductions of about $1.2 million to $1.3 million annually.
Rieck also said that the move would have a severe impact on transit patrons, many of whom are "low wage earners."
He wrote: "About 30 to 40 percent of Topeka Transit ridership will be severely impacted with such a peak period reduction in service. As peak periods tend to be work-related travel times, such cutbacks will likely impact the ability of these riders to obtain and hold jobs in an already weakened economy. This would likely create a community domino effect by increasing the demand for already strained social services and quite possibly create public safety challenges as people's situations become more desperate."
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.