The Oregon Department of Transportation has agreed to fund the shortfalls in the Linn Shuttle’s fiscal year 2000-01 budget.
The Linn Shuttle was supposed to receive $45,000 over the 2000-01 and 2001-02 fiscal years, Senior Center Director Jean McKinney said. Because the bus on the Brownsville route added last year did meet requirements for accessibility, $10,000 was cut by ODOT for that year.
McKinney asked the Linn County Board of Commissioners for assistance in securing the funding, which would cause a shortfall in the budget for that year.
“As we discussed, the county will be receiving a check in the amount of $15,470 for reimbursement of eligible Linn Shuttle expenses for the third and fourth quarters of FY 2001,” FTA Section 5311 ProgramManager Kathryn A. Straton said in a letter to Commissioner Cliff Wooten. For the next year, fiscal year 2002, Straton will meet with McKinney and in Januaray to review the status of the Linn Shuttle budget. At that time, ODOT will amend the grant agreement with Linn County to add $5,000 to the operating funds for 2002.
“In addition, because the $5,000 for marketing in the current grant was used for operating expenses instead, we will also re-evaluate the need for marketing funds,” Straton said. “The two routes being supported by the FTA 5311 funds need to be well-advertised and properly signed. ODOT is willing to also add a small amount of funding to the grant to cover specific advertising, signage or other marketing materials.”
“I feel great,” McKinney said. “It worked letting everybody know that the it was a problem. That support and partnership with the county really works.”
The move, at this point, shifts the shortfall to 2002 instead of 2001 with a promise from ODOT to fund the shortfall if necessary in 2002, McKinney said. “It really takes a load off my mind. Whent he Senior Center’s having to come up with money to run the shuttle, that’s not right.”
The Linn Shuttle is available for public use, running five routes from Sweet Home to Albany and two routes from Brownsville to Albany each day. For information, persons may contact the Senior Center at 367-4775.