By Kery Murakami
PostGlobe
A key audit finding that was revealed Tuesday morning could mean smaller Metro bus cuts than anticipated. An interim report of an audit of Metro found that the bus agency is setting aside way more for a fund to replace aging buses than is needed.
The finding, commissioned last year by County Councilman Larry Phillips, found that Metro, which is facing a $160 million deficit over the next two years, has socked away about $105 million more than necessary for what’s expected to be needed each year until 2025, auditor Larry Brubaker said.
For riders, that may mean – at least temporarily – that bus riders especially, in Seattle, may face fewer cuts in service that would have meant longer waits between buses, if not seeing their routes disappear entirely.
Phillips, at a meeting of the council’s Government Accountability & Oversight Committee, acknowledged that spending some from a fund that’s grown to $200 million would be only a one-time savings. It wouldn’t deal with what Metro expects to be a slow six-year recovery of sales tax revenue. Still undecided is how much of the money could be prudently used to close the deficit.
But Phillips – who said council members have been “deathly afraid” of the looming cuts, said any money that could be shifted from the fleet-replacement fund would help.
“It could go a long ways to substantially eradicate (the deficit), at least for 2010,” Phillips said. “This could be extraordinarily helpful news to mitigate cuts in a big way.”
Metro deputy general manager Jim Jacobson said the agency generally agrees with the audit finding. But Brubaker said Metro hasn’t yet analyzed the audit enough to agree on the amount that’s available
The full audit is due to be released in September, but auditors will be giving progress reports to the Government Accountability & Oversight Committee. It was commissioned at a cost of $600,000, Phillips said, to make sure there aren’t ways to save money before the county asks for tax or fare increases, or cuts service.
According to Brubaker, Metro has been fiscally prudent in overestimating how much it needs to replace buses and in underestimating how much it could receive in grants.
“If you’re underestimating the money going out the door and underestimating the money coming in the door, there’s going to be money available for other purposes,” Brubaker said.
“If the revenue that’s coming in is more than sufficient for fleet-replacement needs, it brings into question why you need to maintain a large fleet-replacement fund,” Brubaker said. “You don’t need to maintain a $200 million fund balance.”
Phillips asked if $105 could be shifted from the replacement fund for operating the agency, without threatening bus replacement.
“Yes,” Brubaker said.
“And it would maintain a healthy reserve?” Phillips asked.
“Yes,” Brubaker said.
Republican County Councilman Reagan Dunn said: “What we care about is obviously maintaining the fleet. We’ve been conservative, which is great.” But he welcomed the news, saying the council had been in “dire straits” in dealing with the looming cuts.
Enjoy this article? Please support us through our donate page so we can continue bringing you information about our city.
