If sales tax passes, more buses to run

The sales tax would add close to $5 million to WRTA’s annual budget.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The head of the Western Reserve Transit Authority admits getting approval from Mahoning County voters for a 0.25-percent sales tax on the March 4 ballot to fund the transportation agency is a tough sell.

But James Ferraro, WRTA’s executive director, said he’s up for the challenge.

“If we’re going to be talking about sales tax around the county, we’ve got to be prepared to offer service to those areas,” he said. “That’s one challenge that we just can’t wait to [meet]; to show some of the outlying areas the great return for their quarter” of a percent.

WRTA’s goal is to get approval for the sales tax that would raise about $7.5 million annually for five years. If the sales tax is approved, the bus agency would eliminate two property taxes in the city of Youngstown that raise $2.7 million a year.

The sales tax would add close to $5 million to WRTA’s annual budget in comparison to the property taxes.

But Ferraro said WRTA has lost more than $2 million in state and federal funding over the past two years, forcing the agency to cut its service by about 50 percent.

The additional money raised through the sales tax would make up that shortfall. It would allow WRTA to restore cuts and expand its services to portions of the county that it currently either barely serves or doesn’t serve at all, he said.

Among those new programs is door-to-door bus service for those in need of transportation.

The plan would provide a 15-passenger vehicle to take as few as one person to various locations, Ferraro said. “It’s a cab ride.”

Marianne Vaughn, WRTA’s secretary-treasurer, said the agency would do its best to “combine rides whenever possible to maximize the seating on the bus.”

Other plans include more bus service to Struthers and Campbell.

Vaughn added that there wouldn’t be “an excess of funds because expenses have also increased.”

The agency would consider a bus storage location in Sebring, Ferraro added.

Without approval of the sales tax, there is a chance WRTA would shut down, Ferraro said.

“We’re down to where it’s going to be difficult to reduce much more,” he said. “... We’ll be in a position where we have to make a decision [with] so little in the way of frequency and service levels that we have to determine if it’s worth collecting Youngstown homeowners’ property taxes for such a small amount. No doubt we’d consider [shutting down]. You can’t operate at a deficit.”

The transit authority had a press conference Thursday to discuss the sales tax issue. Ferraro had mailed letters to numerous elected officials in the county to attend the event in a show of support.

The only officials to attend were Struthers Mayor Terry Stocker and Campbell Mayor John Dill as well as a representative from U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s office.

“Quite frankly, public officials aren’t that happy about coming to meetings to talk about a tax,” Ferraro said in explaining the small turnout of politicians.

WRTA officials will have public meetings throughout the county to attract support for the March 4 vote. “It’s going to be tough,” Ferraro said. “We have to work hard.”

skolnick@vindy.com