Tomorrows vote is not about a forever contract. There is not contract with TARTA. We BELONG to a regional public transportation system. Tommorrows vote is about the future of our city. If you vote to leave TARTA, Rossford will most likely never have public transportation again. I was a part of the Council TARTA Committee that looked at this issue. To be honest, I came into that study with a bias against TARTA. I was the one who commissioned the consultants study and asked for the bid from Ride Right. Lets look at the economics of the issue. Today, Rossford citizens pay about $330,000 a year in TARTA taxes (48 cents a day). Of that amount, nearly $100,000 goes to the Rossford TIF. The remaining amount goes to TARTA to pay for the services to our community. The consultant study determined that we are receiving over $500,000 in services from TARTA today. The annual quote from Ride Right for services to our city was for over a half a million dollars. And, this was for two vans to be used on a call a ride basis. This only service rides within the confines of our city. People having appointments outside of Rossford would have to find alternative transportation. Think about the elderly and handicapped people that have appointments outside the city. What will they do? There are other economic factors to consider. Block grants that the city and county use for economic development and road surfacing and construction require that you have public transportation to be eligible. We will no longer meet that criteria. This will impact this City greatly as our infrastructure continues to deteriorate. The loss of the $100,000 to the Rossford TIF will impact the economic development of our City and mainly the Crossroads. Finally, many feel that we will be able to go back to TARTA and renegotiate. This will not happen. I have spoken with Jim Gee and it would take the TARTA Board to pass this measure. Think of it from a business prospective, someone no longer wants to do business with you and leaves, only to want you to do business with them at the same cost when you were losing money to begin with. If you were on that Board, would you jump into that situation? You are receiving this lower cost for transportation because you belong to a regional organization that spreads its cost over the entire network. Finally, lets look at the economic development impact. There are people that depend on TARTA to get to Rossford for work and to go outside of Rossford to work. Without REGIONAL transportation employers will not look at locating in Rossford. And the loss of employees working in the City will decrease the income tax receipts. This could lead to the need to levy additional taxes to meet the citys expenses. Consider your vote carefully tomorrow and know that this issue effects more than just transportation. I am voting NO tomorrow. Please consider joining me. Let the HATE mail begin!!!! 1 min · Edited · Like · 2
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 16:38:56 +0000