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Ellettsville OK’s Rural Transit funding for rest of year

By Lucas González

Posted April 23, 2024

The Ellettsville Town Council is extending funding to allow Rural Transit to continue normal service in Monroe County through year’s end. (FILE PHOTO: WFIU/WTIU News)

The Ellettsville Town Council is extending funding to allow Rural Transit to continue normal service in Monroe County through year’s end.

Council members unanimously approved $43,000 for the Area 10 Agency on Aging service at a Monday meeting. The item passed in less than a minute and without comments from councilors or members of the public.

The action came slightly more than a month after the town council offered to fund Rural Transit past the end of March through an appropriation of up to $33,000 it made last year. Before that, the council offered to fund the service on a per-trip basis only through March.

Council member William Ellis said this isn’t a permanent solution but is an important step, nonetheless.

“It’s a commitment to Ellettsville that we believe Rural Transit is a great partner for our residents,” Ellis said. “This gives us time to work with the county and to work, possibly, with Bloomington Transit to get a comprehensive solution to this problem.”

The collective $76,000 Ellettsville has appropriated for Rural Transit adds to $88,000 Monroe County has put toward the service. Altogether that comes to $164,000 — less than the previously estimated $220,000 needed for another year of regular service.

Ellis said that figure was based on 2023 ridership trends. He added less money was needed because ridership is down.

Local funding was needed because the typical funding sources for Rural Transit trips were unavailable this year.

Rural Transit provides door-to-door, on-demand rides in parts of Monroe, Owen, Lawrence and Putnam counties. Some of the trips it offers in Monroe County are between areas the Federal Transit Administration considers urbanized areas, such as one from Ellettsville to the Walmart on Bloomington’s west side.

Last year, the Federal Transit Administration told the Indiana Department of Transportation it would more heavily scrutinize nonurban transit systems to ensure they do not provide trips between two urbanized areas. As a result, INDOT said it would no longer subsidize those trips.

Town council members previously debated whether Ellettsville should fund the service since it historically has not done so. Council President Scott Oldham has said he recognizes Rural Transit’s importance but added the town must prioritize services such as water, sewer and public safety.

Oldham declined an interview request from WFIU/WTIU News.

Ellis said he was not surprised by the appropriation’s unanimous support, however.

“It was a difference in the amounts — I mean, we’re looking at a difference between, I think, an additional ($132,000) that was originally asked,” Ellis said. “Forty-three thousand, we’re able to do that.”

He said the town will get some money back because it paid toward an account the state is rebalancing. The funds the town receives will be moved into its general fund.

Ellis added he has spoken with State Rep. Bob Heaton (R-Terre Haute), who he said has pledged to bring the issue to the state legislature. Heaton has asked Ellis to speak about this at the statehouse, as other communities may face a similar problem.

However, that may not happen until at least mid-2025 — and even so, Ellettsville might need to contribute to Rural Transit each year, if it’s to continue normal operations, according to Ellis.

“This is just saying, ‘We have a need,’ and then they’ve got to work out whether that need rises to the occasion of state funding, or if they think we can handle it,” he said. “Unfortunately, we can’t, so I’m hoping there are some mechanisms and some monies that we haven’t been getting that maybe we can get.”

Ellis said the town recently got a rough budget estimate showing it will collect $54,000 more in property taxes than it did last year. He added this indicates Ellettsville likely cannot afford future stop gaps for Rural Transit.

“The $54,000, let’s say we spent all that for Rural Transit; it still would not cover what we did for this year,” he said. “That kind of gives us a harsh reality that we would have to make some cuts. Then we’d have to ask, ‘Where do we cut, and how is that going to impact every other citizen?’”

Last year, the Bloomington City Council authorized Bloomington Transit to negotiate agreements to extend its service boundaries outside Bloomington city limits. Ellis said Ellettsville is unprepared to commit the funding necessary for BT to serve the town.