Shortfall may prompt cuts to SPOT routes

SANDPOINT — Depending on what happens in upcoming budgeting sessions, the Selkirks-Pend Oreille Transit system may be shedding some service hours.

With cities set to finalize budgets this month, SPOT manager Marion Johnson and District 1 transportation director Clif Warren have requested increased funding from participating cities. The requests were prompted by a change in federal requirements for match funding, which call for a greater percentage of financial commitment from local municipalities, Warren said.

To cover the vast majority of local funding, SPOT officials have requested $81,000 from Ponderay and $78,000 from Sandpoint, Warren said.

Ponderay has included the full request into its budget, which council members finalized and passed Monday. According to Ponderay Mayor Carol Kunzeman, council members were persuaded to grant full funding in part because of the substantial traffic businesses like Walmart receive from the service. Ponderay pays for SPOT support through its tax on hotel stays, which was passed in 2010 and provided the last chunk of necessary funding for SPOT’s 2011 debut.

“I’m really proud of you all for jumping on that,” Kunzeman told council members.

Sandpoint officials initially placed $50,000 for SPOT funding into its preliminary budget. In a recent budget workshop, they increased that figure to $60,000, and Warren said it’s also possible they could raise the final amount to $69,000. No final decisions will be made until the council meeting 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sandpoint City Hall, when members will conduct a public forum and pass next year’s final budget.   

Warren said funding from Sandpoint will be the biggest determining factor in how many service hours SPOT will need to shed.

Transportation officials’ projections indicate that if they receive full requested funding, they’ll still fall 4 percent short of the full grant application and have to eliminate extended evening hours Friday and Saturday except in the winter. This will result in a loss of about 1,136 rides a year.

If SPOT receives $69,000 from Sandpoint, SPOT officials will have to cut the blue route — which predominantly covers Sandpoint territory — down to eight hours per day except in the winter. That amounts to about 4,772 rides lost per year.

Finally, if Sandpoint funds SPOT for $60,000 — an outcome that will eliminate 18 percent of SPOT’s budget with the added loss of grant funding — the blue route will be cut to five hours per day except in the winter. Warren estimates 10,978 rides will be lost from those cuts.

“Essentially what we’d have to cut is Sandpoint service,” Warren said.

The potential cuts will only affect the non-winter season because of a $5,000 contribution from Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Warren added. Every skiing and snowboarding season, SPOT officials add a connection to the Schweitzer red barn, where riders can catch a lift on a shuttle to the top of the mountain.

According to Johnson, SPOT is worth supporting for several reasons, including a high ridership of about 7,000 people each month and efficient finances compared to other regional transportation systems. In a presentation to Sandpoint council members last month, she also pointed out that more than half of SPOT riders board in Sandpoint and that the number one stop is downtown Sandpoint — one of the stops that would be impacted by cuts to the blue route.