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BOOK 99 MUTE 989 those funds will be passed -through to the Council on Aging to provide funding for the Community Coach bus system. At the time that staff prepared the FY 1996/97 grant, federal funds were estimated to be available in the amount requested. Estimates of available federal grant money are, however, subject to Congressional appropriations. The amount of transit funding appropriated by Congress for the 1996/97 fiscal year was less than estimated. In addition to Congress's reduction, two Florida transit systems applied for Section 5307 funding for the first time in FY 1996/97, thereby reducing the amount available to all systems in Florida. As a result of the reductions in available transit funding, Indian River County's federal Section 5307 allocation for FY 1996/97 is $98,763 less than estimated. The amount of state funding remains the same as estimated, $112,655. PAI The reduction in federal transit allocation affects the transit operations portion of the County's Section 5307 grant. As a result of the lowered operations funding, it is likely that the level of transit service planned for the 1996/97 fiscal year will be reduced. Federal operations funding for the 1996/97 fiscal year is, however, still higher than federal operations funding received in the 1995/96 fiscal year. To offset the reductions, the Indian River County Council on Aging Transportation Director has provided staff with recommended revisions to the Section 5307 grant budget. Staff concur with the Council on Aging's recommendations. These revisions are listed in Attachment 1 of this staff report. Attachment 2 of this staff report is a revised Section 5307 budget. The specific proposed Section 5307 budget revisions are: Capitalize a portion of maintenance costs -- FTA rules allow a portion (201s) of transit system maintenance costs to be capitalized. This would provide $37,500 that could be used for operations. To add this budget item, an appropriate amount of funds must be reduced in the capital portion of the grant. These are: ■ Eliminate funding for Bus Stop Signs -- this reduction would provide $1,250 ■ Eliminate Bus Shelter funding -- $11,250 was originally allocated for additional bus shelters. The 1995/96 Section 5307 budget was revised in August 1996 to provide $10,000 for shelters, so construction at some locations would still occur • Reduce Bus Washing System funding -- by reducing funding for this item by $15,000, $60,000 would still be available for the washing system • Reduce funding for contingencies -- this would provide $10,000 and would not adversely affect the grant budget 14 DECEMBER 3, 1996 M M M