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BOOK. 99 PAGE 47'8 At the August 27, 1996 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the Board approved the submittal of an application for Federal Transit Administration grant funds under 49 USC Ch. 53, Section 5307 (formerly known as Section 9 of the Federal Transit Act). The grant application requested $754,133 in federal Section 5307 grant funds, which were to be matched by $311,243 in cash funds. Of the $311,243 match amount, $112,655 was to come from a state Public Transit Block Grant, and $198,588 was to be provided by Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach. The County will pass through the grant funds to the Indian River County Council on Aging, Inc. for continuation and expansion of public transportation services. The Council on Aging will use the entire $1,065,376 (grant and match) to fund its Community Coach and para -transit service. A significant component of the matching funds for the Section 5.307 grant come from the state Public Transit Block Grant. Enacted by the Florida Legislature to provide a state -based source of funding for public transit, state Public Transit Block Grant funds are awarded to those public transit providers eligible to receive funding from the Federal Transit Administration's Section 5307 and Section 18 programs and to Community Transportation Coordinators. To receive the Public Transit Block Grant, a recipient'must enter into a Joint Participation Agreement (JPA) with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). According to state regulations, the block grant funds may be used for eligible capital and operating costs of public transit providers. Projects are to be consistent with applicable approved local government comprehensive plans. For support of transit operations, state participation may not exceed the lesser of 50s of the total eligible operating costs of the public transit services, or the total revenue (excluding federal funds and farebox and advertising revenues) received by the transit provider for operating expenses. Local tax revenues made available for operating costs shall not be supplanted by block grant funds. Because the capital portion of the County's FY 1996/97 Section 5307 grant is being matched by soft -match rather than cash -match funds, the entire $112,655 state block grant is being used to provide match for operations funding. As with the FTA Section 5307 grant program, only public agencies may be designated recipients of block grant funds, although a nonprofit provider may receive block grant funds through a designated recipient. Under these restrictions, the Indian River County Council on Aging has requested that the Board of County Commissioners apply for the block grant funds on its behalf. The JPA is an agreement between FDOT and Indian River County, and specifies the requirements which the County must meet in order to receive Public Transit Block Grant funding. One of the most important of these requirements is that the County submit a Transit Development Plan to FDOT. The Indian River County MPO recently developed an updated Transit Development Plan for the entire MPO area, and submitted the plan to FDOT in September 1996 for use with this Public Transit Block Grant. By May 1997, the County must also publish in the newspaper the productivity and performance measures established for the transit system. The Council on Aging will provide these data along with other required reports of local transit service. There are also equal employment and disadvantaged business requirements in the JPA. While no formal plan is required of the County, the County is to ensure that disadvantaged persons and businesses are afforded the maximum opportunity to participatein employment or contracting. As the transit service provider, the Council on Aging prepared plans to meet the equal employment and disadvantaged business requirements, and these plans were approved by the Federal Transit Administration. OCTOBER 22, 1996 10