Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is proposing a 4 percent spending increase for Metro Transit next year, short of the sum needed to avert more service cuts.
Any service cuts would follow near across-the-board fare increases this year, which kept the single-ride charge at $1.50 but bumped prices for monthly passes and other Metro purchases. Cieslewicz had pushed for those fare increases to help cover Metro's budget shortfalls, driven by rising fuel costs.
To help low-income riders affected by the fare hikes, the mayor is now proposing to spend $40,000 on an undefined program for 2006.
Also, Cieslewicz intends to form a special committee of Metro officials, Transit and Parking Commission (TPC) members and "respected citizens" to analyze the challenges facing the bus system and make recommendations on the use of clean energy technologies, what to do about lightly used routes, and the possibility of a regional transit authority.
Cieslewicz, trickling out pieces of his proposed budget before its full release next week, on Thursday proposed boosting the city's share of the Metro budget by $360,000 to about $8.6 million. Metro's budget, which includes state and federal money, would be $43.35 million for 2006 - $560,000 short what's needed to continue existing service.
"The mayor found what resources he could for Metro within the budget parameters he's set to keep property taxes at the level he thinks they should be at," spokesman George Twigg said.
Cieslewicz is vowing a maximum 4.1 percent increase in property tax collections, the maximum the state initially prescribed under its new budget cap until a recent interpretation found the city can actually raise taxes by 7.75 percent. The city has averaged a 5.7 percent annual hike for the last 15 years.
The mayor's proposals for Metro drew a mixed reaction.
"We're grateful the mayor has been forthright and provided additional funding," general manager Catherine Debo said. "(But) it's not the funding needed to maintain service levels."
Metro faces a projected $700,000 in increased fuel prices and other rising costs next year, Debo said.
Debo said she will analyze data on lightly used routes and other options for service cuts and present them to the TPC later this month. The TPC will hold hearings before making any cuts.
But cutting lesser-used routes in the early morning, late night or weekends could have a disproportionate impact on lower- income people who rely most on the bus, Debo acknowledged.
"We are universally unenthusiastic about service reductions," she said. "What we're doing is going to have a negative impact on some people."
Debo called on the City Council, which will have final say on the budget next month, to add money.
"I hope that the level of funding for transit in 2006 will improve during continuing city budget discussion," she said.
TPC Chairman Carl Durocher said Metro appreciates more funds but that it would be hard to consider service cuts so soon after fare hikes.
"I don't know this budget is doing everything it could to support public transportation," he said.
Cieslewicz, Twigg said, is proposing an increase in a tight budget where other agencies face flat budgets or cuts. Also, it's still unclear exactly what fuel prices will be next year, he said.
Durocher also questioned the new committee. "Then what is the role of the TPC?" he said.
The new committee would be broader, including employers, homeless advocates and others to advise the TPC, which still would have legal authority on transit decisions, Twigg said.
Debo, who has had to raise fares and cut services in recent years, said she hopes to create a regional transit system with taxing authority in the next few years.
Such an authority, she said, could "generate the funding that we need not only to maintain but expand service."