July brought some great news for Pierce Transit’s riders. The agency announced on Thursday, July 25, that better-than-expected growth in sales tax revenue was leading the PT Board of Commissioners to reconsider the service cuts planned for September. After many sluggish years following the recession, the agency saw an 11-percent increase in sales tax revenueduring the first four months of this year. The Board voted on July 31 to formally rescind the service reduction plan it approved in June. The planned cuts included a 28% reduction in service hours and employee layoffs, and would have affected almost every single route in the system. Pierce Transit will now likely maintain near-current levels of service through 2014, at which point a revised service plan will be proposed. Cuts are not completely off the table.
Even without the new cuts, transit service is impaired: Over the past five years, Pierce Transit has already reduced service hours by more than 35%, from 617,000 in 2008 down to 399,000 this past June. And neighboring counties are telling a similar story: Yes, things are getting better. But not that much better. And they weren’t that great to begin with.
Snohomish County also saw increases in taxable sales for the first quarter of 2013. Good news, yes, but it’s also important not to forget that Community Transit made deep cuts (37% reduction in service and layoffs of a third of their employees) during the recession. While the increased sales tax revenue is a bright spot, no Sunday service continues to hobble the transit agency’s ability to serve Snohomish County residents who need service 7 days a week.
Even King County saw revenue growth. King County Metro’s updated sales tax projections show about 6 percent growth for 2013 – higher than the 4.4 percent projected in the budget. However, this kind of increase won’t be enough to stave off the massive cuts planned for next year. Due to the weakened economy and subsequently poor sales tax revenues, Metro has been facing a huge budget shortfall and plans to cut about 600,000 annual service hours starting in fall 2014.
It’s an oft-repeated line, but reliance on volatile sales tax revenue is not a sustainable way to fund transit service. This is not the first time Metro, Pierce Transit or Community Transit has been in a financial bind, and unless we explore other funding options, it won’t be the last.
No one is disappointed to hear that the economy is bouncing back, and with it, sales tax revenue. But our transit systems shouldn’t be riding the same roller coaster. When the economy is in the dumps, and people are relying on public transportation more than ever, the opportunity to get to and from work could make all the difference in our region’s ability to weather the economic ups and downs.
