Washtenaw County board mulls changes to countywide transit authority agreement
A bus waits at the Ann Arbor Transit Authority station on Fourth Street in downtown Ann Arbor. A four-party agreement among AATA, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Washtenaw County was the subject of a three-hour discussion Thursday night at a county board of commissioners meeting, as the commissioners prepared for a July vote that would seal the agreement.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
After the Ann Arbor City Council and Ypsilanti City Council signed off on the agreement, and the Ann Arbor Transit Authority approved it, the county board felt it was necessary to address the issue before making a decision at its July 11 meeting, said Commissioner Yousef Rabhi.
The passage of the four-party agreement, which would also include Ypsilanti, is the last time the county board will be able to vote on the AATA plan for the creation of a new transit authority.
The countywide authority is a part of AATA’s five-year plan to expand transportation services in the county - increasing access to public transit, extending operating hours and upping service frequency.
A positive vote by the county board will start the process to create the transit authority - including the drafting of ballot language to be drafted so a 0.5 mill tax can be put before voters of the county.
The county’s approval doesn’t force any community to participate, automatically create an authority or offer the county’s full faith and credit, said AATA CEO Michael Ford.
Rabhi, the chairman of the working sessions, said before the meeting he hoped the board could come to a consensus on changes in the agreement that Ford could hash out with the three other parties in the weeks before the July 11 meeting.
However, the board’s recommendation to Ford was somewhat muddied at the meeting Thursday night.
Rabhi conducted a straw poll of Commissioners Dan Smith, Wesley Prater, Alicia Ping, Felicia Brabec and Conan Smith on a number of changes to the agreement brought up during a three-hour long discussion, but the results were underwhelming.
Commissioners Rolland Sizemore Jr. and Leah Gunn had left the meeting before the poll. Commissioners Rob Turner, Ronnie Peterson and Barbara Levin Bergman were absent.
Ann Arbor City Council members Sabra Briere and Jane Lumm attended the meeting to listen to the county board’s discussion.
The board agreed on certain changes that needed to be made in the agreement, and couldn’t come to a consensus on others.
Most commissioners agreed that:
- Board members of the new transit authority should be residents of the jurisdiction they’re appointed to represent
- The transit authority board should not have the authority to remove a member - it should be up to the municipalities they represent
- If one of the four parties drops out, the county should be able to dissolve the authority
Most of the changes were introduced by Commissioner Dan Smith, who came prepared with a draft of changes to the four-party agreement. Many of his recommendations stemmed from concerns about regulating the power of the new authority.
“We’re creating a brand new government entity with the ability to tax,” said Dan Smith.
Commissioner Prater expressed some similar concerns.
“There’s absolutely no oversight by any responsibe party,” Prater said. “In the public sector I’ve never seen a set of articles of incorporation like these.”
The city of Ann Arbor has more leverage in many aspects of the four-party agreement, which the commissioners debated at length.
Ford explained that because Ann Arbor has a lot of existing transit assets, it is surrendering to the new authority, it's granted special provisions in the agreement.
Commissioners were also concerned that AATA currently provides express services to Canton and Chelsea, though the two municipalities don’t pay for the service. The new transit authority would require them to pay, Ford said.
Commissioner Rabhi told Ford that it was his responsibility to negotiate the board’s expressed concerns in the agreement with the other three parties in the agreement. Should the agreement come back to the county board in July with no changes made, the commissioners could have difficulty passing it, he said.
“Normally I wouldn’t ask you to consider that,” said Conan Smith to Ford. “But I do think these points raised by Dan are particularly weighty issues that warrant a conversation with those units of government.”
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
Roger Kuhlman
Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 2:31 p.m.
It is wrong that some people should receive financial subsidies for their transportation choices of using the bus. The bus transportation authority should be lowering the tax millage and requiring its users to cover more of the cost of the service they are getting. Tell why a small group of people who use the bus should have other people cover much of the costs of the benefits they get. How long is this unfair re-direction of income from some people to other people to continue?
Tanzor
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 6:18 p.m.
This is insanity! AATA is currently running with a 24,000,000 million dollar a year operational loss and is over 80% subsidized. AATA's incredible appetite for tax payer money is alarming to say the least. Fiscal responsibility and operating efficiency don't appear to be in AATA's agenda. AATA's mad quest to expand at any cost is irresponsible and most certainly self serving.
Vivienne Armentrout
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 5:08 p.m.
Echoing Peter Eckstein, and with all due respect to Michael Ford, I don't see how he can offer the assurance that express service to non-paying jurisdictions will cease without their contribution. The current 5-year plan calls for express services to Canton, Belleville, Whitmore Lake, and Plymouth as well as several cities within Washtenaw County (presumably paid for through county-wide taxes). The plan says, "The funding for Express Services outside Washtenaw County would need to be discussed and agreed with relevant stakeholder involved." (sic) But this is the same administration and much of the same board that has been charging Ann Arbor taxpayers about $100,000 a year for the two express services, without any contribution from either Chelsea or Canton. (The amount from fares has been rising slightly; the last six-month cost to Ann Arbor taxpayers was only $41, 602.) These are luxury buses with special seats and WiFi.
Peter Eckstein
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 4:16 p.m.
Commissioners were also concerned that AATA currently provides express services to Canton and Chelsea, though the two municipalities don't pay for the service. The new transit authority would require them to pay, Ford said. What is the basis for this assurance? If Mr. Ford wants them to pay, why doesn't he persuade the existing AATA board to make them do it. How can he commit a board that doesn't even exist yet?
CynicA2
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.
They all better do a lot of "mulling" before they create this Frankenstein. I seem to remember them trying county-wide service previously, back in the eighties or the nineties, with routes to Dexter and Chelsea and ??? As I recall it failed miserably within a year or two, and that was when the county probably had more people than it does now. Leave it to The Evil Hieftje to try and resuscitate yet another dead horse! WOO! WOO!... All Aboard! Oops - the Choo Choo is a dead horse, too.
eyesofjustice
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 2:53 p.m.
The City has worked a deal with Dean Zahn Properties to purchase 314 Fourth Ave, to make this property part of the transit center(old dream nite club).....info on this purchase should be final next month
a2grateful
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 1:59 p.m.
"There's absolutely no oversight by any responsible party," Prater said. "In the public sector I've never seen a set of articles of incorporation like these." That's just how we roll AATA in Ann Arbor. . . No worries. . . Be happy! "The city of Ann Arbor has more leverage in many aspects of the four-party agreement. . . Ford explained that because Ann Arbor has a lot of existing transit assets, it is surrendering to the new authority, it's granted special provisions in the agreement." Nice sales pitch, Ford. We get it. Defer to you. Trust you! Did you mention that your "assets" currently create a deficit operation that is increasing? Did you say anything about AATA's heralded increase in ridership being due to recently contracted use with UM, and that it is possibly just a temporary arrangement? How do we spell due diligence by a local government agency? W-a-s-h-t-e-n-a-w C-o-u-n-t-y B-o-a-r-d! Lumm was there. She knows. Briere was there. Maybe she could still learn. Thank you, WC Board!
xmo
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 1:27 p.m.
Why cann't the AATA be self supporting? (i.e. spend what it takes in) Instead it is a bottomless money pit. Maybe new management is needed! "Commissioners were also concerned that AATA currently provides express services to Canton and Chelsea, though the two municipalities don't pay for the service."
Ron Granger
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 12:59 p.m.
"We're creating a brand new government entity with the ability to tax," said Dan Smith. "There's absolutely no oversight by any responsibe party," Prater said. "In the public sector I've never seen a set of articles of incorporation like these." NO NO NO.
B2Pilot
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 12:33 p.m.
I think the county would be better served with Conan Smith driving a bus He is so out of touch with reality.
Jimmy McNulty
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 11:18 a.m.
"A positive vote by the county board will start the process to create the transit authority - including the drafting of ballot language to be drafted so a 0.5 mill tax can be put before voters of the county. " Yes, please make that ballot language very clear so I may clearly vote NO.