Chalk up more victims of the state’s financial mess. The chief of Kankakee’s mass transit agency says they will go out of business next month if they don’t receive millions of dollars owed by the state of Illinois, stranding thousands of daily riders.
Problem is, the state says the money isn’t there. And Kankakee isn’t alone. Dozens of other transit agencies across Illinois are in the same boat. The buses in downstate Jacksonville stopped rolling last Saturday, stranding passengers in six counties.
The director of that agency, West Central Mass Transit District, says they are owed some $696,000. In Kankakee, staffers were told yesterday that their agency might be next if the state doesn’t come through with funding.
“We’re doing everything we can to avoid this,” says Rob Hoffman, managing director of Kankakee’s River Valley Metro. “We’re projecting we’re going to run out of money the Friday before Thanksgiving.”
Hoffman says a fund designated to pay his and over 50 other downstate transit agencies currently has a balance of just $47,000. River Valley is owed over $2 million, and he says they haven’t been paid since last May.
River Valley has 82 employees, and served about a million passengers last year. They run service as far north as Chicago’s Midway Airport, and also have responsibility for disabled transport in the region, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“When you think of that gentleman with dialysis---he still has to go,” Hoffman said. “We have no business taking that away.”
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A spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger did not dispute River Valley’s dire projection.
“General revenue has a $9.3 billion backlog,” said spokesman Rich Carter. “Today’s payments are 84 days in arrears.”
“Payments can’t be made until the money is there,” he said. “The problem is there is no money in the fund because of our fiscal situation.”
Asked if money can potentially be found to provide a quick infusion to the downstate transit agencies, Carter noted that traditionally February, March, and April are the state’s highest revenue months, because that’s when income taxes are collected.
“October and November are the lowest revenue months of the year,” he said. “It all depends on the revenue that comes in.”
Laura Calderon, the chief of the Illinois Public Transportation Association, says more dominoes will almost certainly fall if the money isn’t there soon.
“Definitely the smaller systems are in worse shape,” she said. “McClean County is in dire straits.”
The Monroe Randolph Transit District likewise is facing a crisis. “They’re very likely to shut down in the next couple of weeks,” she said, noting that the passengers served by many of the member agencies are typically the most vulnerable citizens in rural areas.
“Primarily they are serving elderly and low income people who have no other options.”
River Valley is suing the state to get their money. A hearing on the suit was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
“The comptroller would like nothing more than to make these payments,” the comptroller’s spokesman Rich Carter said. “If more revenue comes in, we can make more payments.”
