Mesa is in such a sad, sorry state right now, and it's not getting any better. If there is one city I am ashamed of in the Valley, it's Mesa. A huge suburb bigger than other well-known American cities such a Miami, St. Louis and Minneapolis, the city is seriously straining its public services.
Mesa only has 3 libraries for 442,000 residents, a dull downtown, fire services stretched thin, and buses that don't run on Sundays or past 10pm on weekdays. Blame it to the largest city in America without a property tax. The poor city relies heavily on sales tax revenue to fund all public services. That sad, here is the article:
Mesa may put brakes on Saturday buses and Dial-a-Ride
Gary Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 24, 2007 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...il0323Z10.html
Fingers were pointing at Uncle Sam on Thursday morning as a grim Mesa City Council faced the prospect of having to eliminate city bus and Dial-a-Ride service Saturdays starting July 1.
The reason: A budget shortfall created by federal law that one council member described as "not rational."
"I think it's a lousy situation, and I don't have an answer for it," Vice Mayor Claudia Walters said.
Mike James, deputy transportation director, said the city's transit budget faces a two-year deficit of $1.54 million because of an upsurge of people using Dial-a-Ride under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
When Mesa eliminated senior Dial-a-Ride service in August to save money, about 95 percent of those who had been using that service got medical approval to use ADA Dial-a-Ride, James said.
The result was a huge spike in ridership, as much as 33 percent in some months. For the fiscal year ending July 1, that will create a shortfall of about $540,000. For the next fiscal year, the deficit will hit $1 million.
Chuck Odom, Mesa's budget director, said it would be legal for the council to cover the shortfall by moving money from another part of the budget, but that would create hardships elsewhere.
Although Dial-a-Ride is responsible for the budget overrun, the city can't chop that program without also cutting fixed-route bus service.
"We do not have a choice," Walters said. "Under federal law, if we run a fixed-route system, we are required by law to provide ADA Dial-a-Ride services within three-quarters of a mile on either side of that fixed route."
Walters said the average ride could cost the city as much as $32 above the rider's fare.
Councilman Scott Somers wondered whether eliminating Saturday service would just push ridership to other days, but James said people have appointments and jobs on Saturdays that can't be moved, "so we're not anticipating a huge shift" in ridership.
Mayor Keno Hawker said this may not be the last such reductions.
"As long as you have a federal requirement for the ADA within three-quarters of a mile of fixed route systems, eventually you're going to be looking at eliminating fixed-route systems," he said. "You're going do some of it and you're going to do some of them well, but you're not going to have as many fixed routes because of the ADA requirement."
The cutbacks will be discussed by the council's transportation and infrastructure committee in mid- to late April.
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