County commission will vote today on loan for purchase of Kelley

~ The transit board leader says he will sign the purchase contract regardless of the outcome of the vote.

The financial package the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority needs to underwrite an agreement to purchase Kelley Transportation Co. Inc. should be completed today.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission, which meets at 9 a.m. in the county administration building in Jackson, will consider a resolution guaranteeing payment on a bank loan for the transit authority. And at 3 p.m., the Senior Citizens Service Fund Board will meet at the Saint Francis Health and Wellness Center on Mount Auburn Road to consider a request to increase its support for the transit authority by $40,000 annually until the bank loan is paid.

Contract will be signed

Regardless of the outcome of those meetings, transit board leader Doug Richards said he plans to sign the purchase contract that will turn over operation of public transportation inside Cape Girardeau city limits.

"We want their support and we hope they will help us," Richards said. "It will be signed" today.

The transit authority wants to complete the $360,000 purchase of Kelley Transporation by the end of the month. Work has been progressing steadily for the authority, with remodeling at new Cape Girardeau offices and anticipation that buses for a fixed-route bus service will arrive this week or early next week.

The loan guarantee would obligate the county to pay the transit authority's debt for the purchase in case of default. Commissioner Jay Purcell, who helped broker the deal between Kelley and the transit authority, said the guarantee would also cover an additional sum, up to $300,000, to pay for start-up expenses for the expansion.

"It is the cost of acquiring the business" and giving them operating capital, Purcell said. "It will allow them to hit the ground running."

The merger of Kelleys operation, which includes a taxi and courier service, and the transit authority will bring unity to a currently split system of providing service in the county, proponents of the deal contend. Kelley provides public transportation only within Cape Girardeau city limits through a subsidized system. Users purchase coupons at city hall to trade for the rides, with a limit of 14 coupons per month.

The transit authority currently provides services outside of Cape Girardeau. It can take passengers from outside the city to a location within Cape Girardeau and return them home but cannot provide rides between two locations within the city.

The bus service, which transit officials hope to begin the first week of July, will provide anyone with a ride for $1.50, with a discounted cost for senior citizens and the disabled. The bus service will connect medical and shopping opportunities with residential areas in the central part of town.

When it begins, it will be the first regularly scheduled public transit route operating in the city since June 1, 1969.

The loan guarantee is not a grant of county money for the transit authority, Purcell said. "We are not putting county monies in this. We are not buying them. We have committed to back that loan. They will use existing revenues and revenues for taking over Cape to pay the note and interest."

The county's strong financial condition will help the authority get the best possible interest rate and terms for the loan, Purcell said.

While the commission's action doesn't include any actual grant of cash, the request to the senior citizens' board does. The seven-member board must decide whether it can afford to increase its current annual grant of $55,000 to the transit authority.

The board spends approximately $450,000 annually for a variety of programs, chairman Dale Rauh said. It has a cash reserve of about $10,000, he said, and supports nearly 20 programs for seniors. The programs supported include the senior centers in Jackson and Cape Girardeau as well as health programs.

At the midpoint

Rauh, a Jackson alderman, said he's waiting to hear how the money will be spent before giving an opinion. "We really don't know how much we will have in reserve. We are in the midpoint of our year. Some programs we have funded may not need as much and we may have more money available as we move along."

The board's programs are supported by a property tax. Most property tax revenue comes in during the final two months of the year as people pay their tax bills. The board generally makes decisions about funding for various programs in October and November, Rauh said.

Former county auditor Weldon Macke, also a board member, said he, too, is waiting for the presentation at the meeting today before deciding on the request.

"We would have to see whether we had it, and it is hard for me to give a really good answer until I know personally what they wanted it for," Macke said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126