The 2010 Census may confirm that Green Bay and Appleton have populations large enough that they no longer qualify for federal assistance for their bus systems.
Wisconsin has 14 medium-sized urban areas with transit systems, including the Fox Cities and Green Bay. The state and federal governments give these transit systems monetary assistance to cover a portion of their operating costs.
“Historically we have distributed (state and federal) funds (amounting) to 60 percent of operating costs for those systems,” John Alley, Section Chief of the Bureau of Transit, Wisconsin DOT said. “In the past few years it’s been closer to 57 or 58 percent.”
Under current federal rules, when the population of an area served by a transit system exceeds 200,000, that area is no longer eligible for this federal assistance.It is almost certain that the census will show that both the Green Bay and the Fox Cities have populations above 200,000.
Valley Transit, which serves the Fox Cities, would lose approximately $1.5 million in grants for operating expenses, according to Nikke Voelzke, community relations specialist of Valley Transit in Appleton.
Green Bay stands to lose slightly more than the Fox Cities, Voelzke said.
Wisconsin would then only receive federal funds for the remaining 12 urban areas.
However, current state law requires each of the 14 bus systems be treated in the same manner. For example, if one system receives grants equal to 57 percent of their operating costs, all other systems must receive grants equivalent of 57 percent of their operating expenses.
This means that, in the future, each of the 12 other cities, including Oshkosh, would receive less state money because Green Bay and the Fox Cities could receive only state funds.
It gets complicated, however.
“There are endless possibilities for the future because federal reauthorization is an open question at this point,” Alley said. “We don’t know at the state level what our state legislature and future governor might do or not do in terms of transit funding.”
One possibility is that a way be found to assure that Green Bay and the Fox Cities continue to receive federal funds.
There have been efforts to make sure cities like Green Bay and the Fox Cities do not lose their federal grants.
The 100-Bus Coalition has lobbied for legislation to exempt certain cities from losing their grants when they grow to populations over 200,000.
Specifically, those systems that have fewer than 100 buses could still receive grants.
That is, if a city has fewer than 100 buses, it would not lose its federal funding when its population grows to more than 200,000 people.
The 100-Bus Coalition is a group of transit systems that lost their transit funding after the 2000 Census, according to Voelzke.
If the coalition has not been able to receive exemptions in 10 years, there is little reason to count on them in the future.
A second possibility is that bus systems look for alternate sources of funding. The Valley transit is attempting to receive legislative authorization to form a Regional Transportation Authority (RTA).
On March 11, the Transportation Committee of the state legislature held a public meeting to discuss Assembly Bill 734.
This bill, if enacted, would authorize Valley Transit to form an RTA and levy a sales tax of up to 0.5 percent within those areas served by Valley Transit.
Green Bay is hoping to be covered by an assembly bill that would give blanket RTA coverage to all bus systems across the state.
Even if AB 734 is passed, the voters in each of those cities and towns would have to approve a binding referendum approving the sales tax.
“We think that we would need about one-tenth of a percent (increase in sales tax),” Voelzke said, “not one-half of a percent. So the referendum would specify one-tenth of a percent.”
Other possibilities exist. The legislature could change current laws and procedures.
“The State could tell us that we are just out,” Voelzke said, “and that’s where the sales tax would come in. (But) we don’t know how the state would treat us (once we had an RTA).”
While Green Bay and the Fox Cities are working on alternative financing, cities like Oshkosh are left wondering whether they will lose their funding.
“Right now it’s unclear,” Dave Vickman, Transportation Coordinator, Oshkosh Transit, said. “It’s still unsettled, so it’s unsettling.”
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