by Eric Marotta
Editor
Summit County voters will be asked to stave off drastic cuts in regional transportation service March 4.
If approved, Issue 8 would boost the county sales tax from 6.25 percent to 6.5 percent and increase sales tax revenue for Metro Regional Transportation Authority by $18 million annually. The agency's budget is presently around $30 million per year, according to Metro.
The proposal is a "continuing" tax measure, meaning the increase would have no expiration date, according to Metro.
The agency says it has done everything it could to keep from approaching voters, including implementing cuts in services and its budget since 2000 that now total $10 million per year.
Those include the layoffs of 52 workers, the elimination of 13 bus routes, increasing fares 60 percent and freezing employee wages for the past three years, according to Director Kirt Conrad.
During the same time period, the agency experienced a $3.5 million decrease in state funding, about $1.5 million in increased fuel costs, doubled insurance costs that cut $500,000 from operating revenues and lower-than-predicted sales tax receipts since 2000.
Approval of the tax increase would result in some service being restored, with some of the extra revenue also used to purchase buses and new equipment.
If Issue 8 is not approved, Conrad said, scheduled cuts for 2008 and 2009 will result in an additional $4 million per year in cut services by 2010, including up to 50 more layoffs.
E-mail: emarotta@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3171