Twenty nine thousand five hundred – 29,500 – that’s the number of rides provided by ATA bus in Geary County as of June 30th, the past fiscal year.

Ben Bennett, County Commission Chairman, said that those numbers were provided to the governing body by ATA bus Board President Florence Whitebread.

Of the total (29,500) rides, 16, 200 were on the fixed bus routes and others were on-demand – where riders make an appointment.

“We discussed a little bit about the routes that needed to be reviewed and probably needed to be some changes made in bus stops that aren’t being utilized and the routes that are,” said Bennett.

Bennett noted that Whitebread encouraged the Commission to reinstate the the $60,000 reduction in funding to the ATA bus that is in the 2018 budget proposal. “We did not make a commitment one way or another, I don’t think we’re ready to revisit that part of the budget at this time.”

The County’s 2018 Budget Proposal includes an overall reduction in the property tax levy of 1.64 mills – including the $60,000 cut to ATA bus operations.

All County Departments were asked to make reductions to help with the preparation of the 2018 budget.

No final approval has been given by the Commission at this time.

 

 

*feature photo courtesy Habersham County