Amid 8,000 federal spending earmarks, a new city bus
Obama laments pet projects, but Metro officials welcome the cash
Nestled somewhere among about 8,000 earmarked projects in the federal spending bill signed by President Barack Obama yesterday is $475,000 for a new Greater Portland Transit District "clean bus," officials said.
"That's more than enough to buy one new bus, it's really maybe more like a bus-plus," said city Councilor Kevin Donoghue, who is president of the Metro board of directors. He said that U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree's office called to tell him about the bus money shortly after the president signed the bill. While the earmark calls for a "clean" bus, he added, the specifics will allow the city to use a wide range of technologies for the vehicle.
Event the president, as he signed the bill, complained about the earmarks and called on Congress to stop doing business as usual.
Donoghue said policy concerns over earmarks were the stuff of congressional delegations and presidents, not local officials.
"For us, our job is to take the money," he said.
The good financial news comes as the city waits to discover if a previous spending program, the federal stimulus bill, will also help replace an aging bus fleet. Metro officials have said they will replace more than a dozen buses either with or without federal money, but they have applied for $5.6 million from Maine's $175 million in transportation-focused stimulus funding.
Dave Redlefsen, general manager of the bus system, has said the emphasis will be on new buses but that used replacement buses might be a backup position.
It's unclear if the money from yesterday's spending bill would replace any of the requested state-controlled money.
The earmark is another piece of a bus replacement puzzle that has become one of the major transit goals for both the city and its neighbors. Even the multi-million dollar state request is is, in turn, part of a $22 million request by the 15-city Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System [PACTS] to purchase 31 buses, 30 vans and a ferry boat to be split between a seven regional transit agencies.
Within that $22 million request, it's possible that some projects will be funded while others are left out, officials have explained.
"We'll all be competing within the State of Maine," Redlefsen said earlier this year. "There are seven providers in PACTS, we'll be competing with the other six for funding."
Metro, which operates 27 buses on roughly $6 million annually, is funded by contributions from member cities Portland and Westbrook and is eyeing expanded service to Falmouth. Officials say 14 of the 27 buses need to be replaced.
If Metro has to purchase buses on its own, it would likely need financing to pay for them. Redlefsen said they are authorized to borrow up to $900,000 to finance fleet modernization, a figure that would be offset by $500,000 promised by the state. In that agreement, the state would bear 80 percent of the cost versus Metro's 20 percent. In all, Redlefsen said Metro's maximum exposure is $400,000.
Donoghue has explained that the agency doesn't generally take on long-term debt but is considering that route because "the situation is potentially so dire." The bond, he said, would be limited to paying Metro's portion of a cost-sharing agreement already in place with the state.
"If it becomes necessary for Metro to pay for a local match for fleet replacement, we are prepared to go to market at that time," he said. "But there still seems to be considerable hope that stimulus funding will be the way we fund the replacement of the fleet."
Redlefsen said 10 buses were purchased in 1990 and require up to $10,000 per year in maintenance costs. Four more buses, bought in 2000, are also reaching the end of their expected lifespans, he added.
