12/2/1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

BOOK TO: James Chandler County Administrator THROUGH: Robert M. Keating, AICP 4144 Community Development Director FROM: Jacob Riger 1R MPO Planner DATE: November 19, 1997 SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR SECTION 9 MASS TRANSIT CAPITAL AND OPERATING FUNDS (49 USC CH. 53, SECTION 5307 GRANT) It is requested that the information presented herein be given formal consideration by the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of December 2, 1997. As a result of the 1990 Census, the City of Vero Beach and the densely populated land surrounding the City were designated as an urbanized area. With this designation, several changes occurred. One was the establishment of the Indian River County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Another change was that local governments within the urbanized area became eligible to apply for and receive grant funds authorized by 49 USC Ch. 53, Section 5307 (formerly and more widely known as Section 9 of the Federal Transit Act). In August 1996, the Board of County Commissioners authorized the filing of a Section 5307 grant application requesting $1,077,336 in federal, state, and local funds. That grant was approved, and those funds were passed through to the Council on Aging to provide funding for the Community - Coach bus system. Section 5307 program grants may be used for the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, and operating costs of facilities, equipment, and associated capital maintenance items used in mass transportation service. Operating expenses require a 50% non-federal match, while capital expenses require a 20% non-federal match. FY 1997/98 is the second year for which a soft -match, rather than cash match, may be used to provide the required match for the capital expenses portion of the Section 5307 grant. While a match is still required, the use of a soft -match eliminates the need for the county or state to provide a cash share for capital expenses. State and county funds allocated for transit expenses are, however, still used to match operations expenses. The availability of soft -match funds stems from a provision of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 allowing the use of toll revenue credits for federally -required matching funds. A toll credit match may be used only for the capital portion of the Section 5307 grant. The grant application is provided in Attachment 1. Listed on Attachment 1 is the amount of federal cash grant funds, state/local matching cash funds, and state/local matching soft -match funds for capital and operations. Attachment 1 also lists the capital items which the Council on Aging intends to purchase with the grant funds. While only public agencies may be designated recipients and apply for Section 5307 funds, a non- public provider may receive Section 5307 funds through a designated recipient which applies for funds on behalf of the non-public provider. Consistent with this allowance, the Indian River County December 2, 1997