SCMTD February 2004 Board of Directors Agendas - Santa Cruz ...

These costs represent an increase of $384,553 over the past 18 months.
In addition, to these escalating costs we have experienced a reduction in
ADA ride demand. Consider the following annual comparisons.
Year01/02Year02/03Year03/04
Rides 108,083 105,989 94,343
District Revenue $2,497,712 $29373,293 $29272,723
Fares $ 219.1.53 $ 200,767 $ 246,764
Total Fees $2.716,865 $2.f;74.060 $2,519.+87
We started the 02/3 year budgeting to provide 117,000 rides for District
revenue payments of $2,691,234. These numbers were based upon the District
RFP’s assumptions of 120,000 annual rides, the expected increase of rides for
recertification, and historical trends. Therefore, we started 02/03 staffing to
meet this expected demand. The monthly ride counts supported the projection
until the spring of 2003. At that time, the normally expected spring increase in
ridership did not materialize. This was due to the reductions in eligible riders
through the recertification process. As a result, we were short of our budget
revenues by $317,938 in District revenue and, an additional, $33,233 in rider
fees. Totaling a revenue shortfall. of $351,171.
Lift Line staff has worked hard to balance its budget for 03/04 and to
maintain ride performance within contract requirements. In order to balance the
budget the staff has absorbed wage freezes, benefit reductions, and layoffs, Since
April 1,2003 we have laid-off 21 drivers and 7 support positions.
The most recent round of layoffs of 12 driver positions and 2.5 office
positions came on October 31,2003. These layoffs were prompted by the Central
Coast Alliance for Health reducing its reimbursement rate for MediCal providers
by 40%. The Alliance’s reimbursement reduction was projected to cause a Lift
Line revenue shortfall of about $482,000. This change affected the ADA budget
because up to this point the Medi-Cal revenue had been helping to cover the
deficit in ADA. We now have less ability to subsidize the ADA service.
The accumulation of these cost increases, revenue reductions, and
workforce reductions have put tremendous stress on the paratransportation
system. It is becoming a risk to the ADA service, Lift Line and to the other
programs that Community Bridges operates. For those reasons we are requesting
assistance in dealing with this situation. We certainly understand that you can
respond by merely taking back the ADA service. However, we wanted to provide
another alternative which would be less costly still.