City delays vote on SPOT funds

SANDPOINT — Council members have yet to decide whether or not to give the Selkirks-Pend Oreille Transit system $28,000 more than budgeted.

During an informational presentation at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, SPOT manager Marion Johnson and District 1 transportation director Clif Warren ran the council through SPOT’s financial needs for the 2014-2015 budget cycle.

To meet match requirements for grant funding, the transportation officials requested that Sandpoint contribute $78,000 rather than the $50,000 line item in the preliminary budget. Their request was supported by testimonials from community members.

“The SPOT experiment has become such a needed service for so many individuals,” former Sandpoint mayor Paul Graves said.

According to Johnson and Warren, the request is prompted by changes in federal law requiring an increase from 8 percent to 20 percent in grant match funds for capital equipment. All other match-funding rates stay the same, but the change still necessitates additional money from participating cities Sandpoint, Ponderay, Dover and Kootenai. According to Warren, Ponderay officials have already included the requested $81,000 into  the city’s preliminary budget. Meanwhile, system officials are seeking $500 apiece from Kootenai and Dover.

Plans are in place to limit the amount of necessary public funding, Warren added. Schweitzer Mountain Resort has committed $5,000 to the service. Each SPOT bus was also equipped with a donation box in March, Johnson said. Those boxes have only collected about $500 so far, but it still helps out, she added.

Bus advertising is primed to be another solid source of revenue — SPOT officials have an income of $10,000 budgeted. SPOT vehicles are being equipped with advertising rails this week for the purpose. No businesses have officially committed to advertising yet, Warren said, but officials don’t believe securing contracts will be difficult.

“People have been calling the chamber wanting to advertise on the bus,” Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce President Kate McAlister said.

McAlister also backed the SPOT system as a valuable asset for promoting Sandpoint tourism, citing examples of individuals who told her they wouldn’t ski in a resort town without public transportation. Similarly, Graves said that SPOT was an invaluable tool for local seniors to do their shopping and pay social visits.

“They have come to depend on SPOT to nourish their lives,” he said.

On the other hand, local resident Christian Schwab said he loved the bus system, but he didn’t think Sandpoint’s population justified that degree of public transportation funding.

In addition, Councilwoman Carrie Logan wanted to see more support for Sandpoint hotels on bus routes considering their bed tax dollars help fund the system. Nevertheless, council members agreed the bus system, which gives more than 7,000 rides each month, had become a big success. They said they would look into the funding request as they continued work toward authorizing the final budget this fall.  

“(SPOT) is clearly of great value to the community,” Councilman Aaron Qualls said.