[Ohio-talk] RTA News

[Richard Payne]

Thanks Milena for posting this information and you  are correct it will affect everyone in the state. Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Milena Zavoli via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 2:22 PM
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: mzavoli at roadrunner.com
Subject: [Ohio-talk] RTA News

Greetings Friends,

I subscribe to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA or RTA) e-news.  If you're concerned about the future of public transportation in Cleveland, Ohio, here's an item of interest: The RTA budget for years to come.  The state budget doesn't only affect public transit in Cleveland, but throughout Ohio.  We all ride some form of public transportation and this issue concerns all of us.
 
>From the website:

"Update on how State budget issues will affect RTA Feb 9, 2017

CLEVELAND -- A new two-year State budget takes effect July 1. It will have a large impact on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Here’s how
Gov. John Kasich(link is external)
 plans to help out counties and transit systems that depend largely on the sales tax for income. The budget must still be adopted by the Ohio General Assembly(link is external).

Under new federal guidelines, the State of Ohio, each County in Ohio and each transit system that receives sales tax revenue, which includes RTA, would no longer receive a sales tax levied on Medicaid managed-care organizations.

That means that RTA would lose $4.5 million in the fourth quarter of this year, $18 million in 2018, and every year moving forward.

The proposed State budget addresses that issue.

list of 3 items
• Gov. Kasich’s plan would keep RTA whole in 2017, filling a $4.5 million hole that would have occurred in the fourth quarter.
• For calendar year 2018, the State will allocate a one-time payment, based upon a needs formula to be developed, that will cover a percentage of the anticipated revenue loss. Based on the Governor’s proposal, RTA’s loss would be $2 million.
• There will be no State assistance for 2019 and beyond, so RTA will incur the full $18 million annual loss.

CEO Joe Calabrese says RTA will continue to work with the NEO delegation in the General Assembly, and the Ohio Public Transit Association(link is external)  (OPTA), to obtain more funding.

Feb 10, 2017

CLEVELAND – The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) met with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials in Washington, D.C. on Feb.
9, 2017, to discuss the basis of the $12 million debt specified by the FTA for the breach of its Full Funding Grant Agreement, resulting from the closing of Superior Avenue within Public Square.

RTA told the FTA that payment of the $12 million would cause it great financial harm.

The FTA explained that the $12 million was a fraction of the actual debt. Based on Section 19 of the Full Funding Grant Agreement, any breach of the original agreement could result in a debt equal to all the Federal Funds for the entire Euclid Corridor Transportation Project, which is $142.8 million.

FTA representatives specifically lauded the project for being the catalyst in creating more than
$6.3 billion in economic development
along the Euclid Corridor and referenced the recent study(link is external)  by Cleveland State University issued two weeks ago, which noted the doubling of high-paying jobs along the HealthLine since it began operation.

RTA expects to hear back from the FTA at a later date. 

Currently, the date by which this roadway must be open to RTA, or the date by which the debt must be paid, is Feb. 21, 2017."

Again, I remind you that we have a speaker, Erica Tucker, from RTA who will speak at our meeting on March 25th.  Although she deals with local RTA issues, there's no harm asking her about the transit budget as a whole.  I will post another reminder about the meeting as time draws near.

All the Best,
Milena Zavoli


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