April 28, 2010


In the News:
Cuts to street funds could lessen blow to transit services, The Arizona Republic, April 23, 2010
Scottsdale trolleys are facing cuts, The Arizona Republic, April 26, 2010
Council saves free Ahwatukee bus services, terminates 2 others, The Arizona Republic, April 28, 2010
Economic Development Dept. in Surprise faces elimination, The Arizona Republic, April 28, 2010
 
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Cuts to street funds could lessen blow to transit services
by Lynh Bui 
Apr. 23, 2010 01:11 PM
The Arizona Republic

The Scottsdale Budget Review Commission on Thursday night backed a proposal that would lessen cuts to transit services in the city while still balancing the transportation budget.

The commission will recommend the City Council approve plans that would take 10 percent of the money allocated for maintaining roads and capital transportation projects - about $1.6 million - and put it toward transit services.

The proposal was one of many the Budget Review Commission endorsed as it finalized its recommendations for the 2010-11 fiscal year budget.

The group will present its recommendations to the City Council at a joint meeting on May 4.

Transit cuts are among several ideas being considered to balance next year's budget. Among the other ideas under initial discussion are increases in water rates by 2.5 percent and sewer rates by 3 percent.

The increases would raise the typical monthly residential utility bill by 2.1 percent, or $1.65.

The city was considering $3.1 million in transit cuts to make up a deficit in the transportation budget. The shortfall is attributed to state cuts to lottery funding that paid for some transit services and dwindling transportation tax revenue because of the economic downturn. By using money from streets maintenance, the transit deficit would be reduced to $1.4 million.

It is still unclear what bus routes, trolley services or other transit programs would be cut to make up the shortfall. The city has been holding public meetings to gather input on the proposed cuts. The Transportation Commission is expected to make recommendations on transit cuts on May 10, about one week before the City Council is expected to hold public hearings and tentatively adopt the budget.

Margaret Dunn, chief executive officer of Atypical Transportation Co., which runs the city's trolley service, questioned the validity of cutting transit money for two straight years.

"This is a deep cut and a lasting injury to the transportation budget," Dunn said.

Last year, $2.1 million was cut from the city's transit budget.

Using money from the streets maintenance fund will give the city and transportation officials time to think of new ways to finance transit services. In the future, the city will explore the possibility of charging passengers a fare to use the trolleys and how to generate income by allowing advertisements on the trolleys.

Overall, the city is facing an $18 million shortfall in its general fund. The proposed general fund operating budget is $234.7 million, an approximately 3 percent increase over the current year's budget.

The city also projects sales-tax revenue will reach $80.5 million in 2010-11, up 2 percent over the current fiscal year.

The commission also made several other recommendations, including:
• Reducing the operating budget by $1.6 million by scaling back printing, mailing, supplies, training and other employee-related costs.
• Use $4.2 million from last year's budget surplus to manage the shortfall.
• Use $2.5 million of the city's $5 million in contingency reserves.

The commission also suggested the council examine the city's policy on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve tax.

Commissioners suggested the council consider asking voters whether to shift $350,000 spent annually on operational and maintenance costs for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve from the general fund to the dedicated preserve tax.

The commission also recommended the council review whether voters should be asked to extend the preserve tax and whether the tax should pay for the operational costs of the future Desert Discovery Center. None of those proposals, if approved, would affect next year's. budget.

Some commissioners have floated the idea of asking voters to free up some money dedicated to the preserve to relieve the city's problems with the general fund. Advocates of the plan said they didn't want to stop acquiring land for the preserve but explore slowing down the land-purchase process. The proposal drew criticism from preservation leaders, who said the money is already spoken for.

The council and the budget panel will meet at 5 p.m. May 4 at Scottsdale City Hall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd., to discuss the commission's recommendations.

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Scottsdale trolleys are facing cuts
Budget gap may mean reduced service, fees
by Jane Larson 
Apr. 26, 2010 10:48 AM
The Arizona Republic

Scottsdale's iconic trolleys, free transportation that carries tourists and residents to the city's shopping, dining and neighborhood destinations, could see greatly reduced hours and even fees if other budget cuts can't be found.

Supporters of the trolleys have come out in force to defend the popular service. Riders, downtown ambassadors and the owner of the company that operates Scottsdale's trolleys trooped to city-hall meetings and an open house in the past two weeks to ask that the service be maintained and even expanded. A heavy turnout was expected today, when Scottsdale holds an open house at its Granite Reef Senior Center, which many older residents of south Scottsdale reach via the neighborhood trolley for lunch and social activities.

"It would be a sorry mistake to lose the trolley service, especially for people without cars, people who need and depend on it," south Scottsdale resident Arthur Blevans told the city's Transportation Commission this month.

Others said the downtown trolley allows visitors to experience the uniqueness of the downtown district and boosts business there.

"Are we going to roll up the sidewalks in Old Town? Eliminate the prospect for Scottsdale Fashion Square shoppers to experience downtown? The prospect seems entirely miscalculated," said Margaret Dunn, chief executive officer of trolley operator Atypical Transportation Co.

Scottsdale transportation staffers have proposed a menu of options in order to come up with $3.1 million in cuts to the transit budget.

Reductions must be made because lottery funds that used to pay for transit services have dried up and transportation tax revenue continues to dwindle.

Among the proposals:
• Reduce the frequency of the neighborhood trolley to every 40 minutes, from the current 20 minutes, saving $528,000 a year.
• End neighborhood trolley service after 8 p.m. instead of the current 10 p.m., saving $75,000 a year.
• Reduce downtown trolley service to three or four days a week, instead of the current seven days a week, saving $114,000 to $137,000.
• Eliminate downtown trolley service in the summer, saving $67,000.

The Scottsdale Budget Review Commission last week backed a proposal that would reduce cuts to transit services from $3.1 million to $1.4 million.

Scottsdale is one of five Valley cities to jump on the transit trend known as circulators. The smaller buses, which generally have no fixed stops and charge little or no fares, are intended to connect residents to neighborhood destinations and to fixed-route bus systems.

Often, they are designed to make riding public transit easy and fun.

Scottsdale opted for a vintage trolley style, with a blue-and-cream exterior and interiors featuring brass hand rails and wood-slatted benches. Other cities splash their small buses with bright graphics.

In Mesa, the circulator is the Downtown Buzz.

In Glendale, it's the Glendale Urban Shuttle, or GUS.

Tempe created its Orbit system with routes named after planets.

In all, the Valley's 17 circulator routes carried 5.67 million passengers in fiscal 2008-09, up 45 percent from the previous fiscal year, Valley Metro reported.

Scottsdale's neighborhood trolley carried 6.2 passengers per mile, the highest rate of all Valley circulators and a 171 percent increase from the year before, Valley Metro said.

The downtown Scottsdale trolley averaged three passengers per mile, the third-highest rate and up 16 percent from the year before, the report said.

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Council saves free Ahwatukee bus service, terminates 2 others
by Cathryn Creno 
Apr. 28, 2010 11:09 AM
The Arizona Republic

The Phoenix City Council has agreed to keep three of its five neighborhood circulator buses running despite massive cuts to the city transportation budget.

The council Tuesday decided to fund Ahwatukee Local Explorer, or ALEX, Maryvale Area Ride for You, or MARY, and Sunnyslope Multi Access Area Residential Transit, or SMART.

Hours and service will be cut by 50 percent in July. The plan was approved by the council on Tuesday.

Service by the little-used Desert Ridge Area Revolving Transport, or DART, and Deer Run, or the north Phoenix circulator, will end in July, when Valley Metro's transportation schedule is updated.

Phoenix this year lost $9.2 million in state Lottery Transit Assistance Funds because of the state revenue shortfall. The free neighborhood buses cost $5.2 million a year to operate and bring in no revenue. City staff initially proposed cutting the service entirely.

"I am delighted we still have ALEX," said Virginia Morton, an Ahwatukee retiree who helped plan the ALEX program that started in 2001. She also has served on recent committees that planned cuts to the service.

"I am actually beyond words. I was just praying we could keep it," she said.

About 1,000 people in Ahwatukee Foothills ride ALEX daily. Many are seniors who no longer drive and students who take the bus from school to recreation programs. MARY has more than 2,000 riders daily and SMART has about 1,800.

Dwight Amery, executive director the Maryvale Revitalization Corporation, was among those who argued that the city keep MARY running because it is the only transportation available to some in the low- and moderate- income community.

"In these tough times, many families can't afford more than one vehicle," he said. "We aren't the Biltmore area.

"I think this is a huge victory. Even though there will be cuts now, it is always easier to increase a service (when the economy improves) than bring it back from extinction."

The council briefly debated adding fare boxes to the circulators but decided against it because city staff could not predict expected revenue from a 50-cent fare. National studies have shown that ridership of neighborhood buses drops dramatically when any fee is charged.

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio, one of the council members who fought to keep the circulators, said after the meeting that he still would like to see fare boxes added to the 19-seat minibuses buses at some point.

"At the end of the day the market should decide which services the community really supports," he said.

It is still not clear how hours and routes of the three remaining circulator buses will change.

Committees of Ahwatukee, Maryvale and Sunnyslope residents and business leaders have already met and made recommendations to city staff.

Yvette Roeder, public information officer for the Phoenix Public Transit Department, said Wednesday that her department's planners will now evaluate the committee recommendations and come up with new routes and schedules that meet the communities' wants and the city's budget needs.

She said the changes will be announced later this spring and take effect in July.

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Economic Development Dept. in Surprise faces elimination
Surprise could employ move to balance budget
by Lily Leung 
Apr. 28, 2010 10:12 AM
The Arizona Republic

Surprise is proposing to lay off its entire Economic Development Department, a move that would help balance the proposed fiscal 2011 budget and save Dial-a-Ride from cuts.

The layoffs would save the city $336,500, according to a newly revised budget presented over the weekend at a council retreat. The proposal was in a supplemental budget package that was released late last week.

Two of the staffers were let go on Tuesday, but their names and the reasons were not disclosed at press time.

Acting City Manager Mark Coronado said the idea is to reorganize and restrategize the department, not diminish the importance of economic development in the city. The proposal came a few days after the city merged the Economic Development and Community Development departments. Community Development Director Jeff Mihelich leads both areas.

The economic-development division exists to attract and retain businesses, and to help small businesses. The department faced uncertainty when director John Hagen left in December to lead a public-private group in Florida. Instead of searching for a permanent replacement, the city appointed Coronado as the interim department head; Coronado also was serving as the recreation director. After the council named him the interim city manager, the double duty was handed to Mihelich.

A chart outlining the proposal shows that 5.7 positions would be eliminated, including a department head, an administrative specialist, a program manager, two coordinators and a part-time coordinator.

Surprise would then hire two contract employees to serve under Mihelich. Coronado said it's possible that those positions could be filled by city employees who would be laid off, if the plan is approved.

City officials said the recommendation was based on a city-workforce analysis that cited "less business expansion" and the city's push to refocus its strategic planning as reasons for downsizing the department.

The city has pledged to save the Dial-a-Ride program, which serves elderly and disabled residents, from budget cuts. The supplemental budget mentioned that cutting economic development would help to keep Dial-a-Ride.

Megan Griego, an economic-development coordinator, urged the Surprise City Council on Saturday to "fully invest" in the department.

Although the economy has slowed, economic development hasn't, Griego said.

She outlined the successes of the department in the past four years, attempting to show the council the impact of its likely decision to ax jobs.

Griego said successes have included:
• Helping about 300 start-up companies.
• Attracting Trader Joe's.
• Bringing the Veterans Affairs Clinic to the Ancona Plaza.

Griego touted the Az TechCelerator, a business incubator, as the department's biggest success. In six months, the city has signed leases with numerous start-ups that hope to flourish in the facility that served as the former City Hall.

By eliminating positions and outsourcing work, Surprise is "sending the message to businesses and developers that the city is not in full support of . . . economic development," Griego said of the council initiative.

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