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• Z F. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION JOINT PARTICIPATIONAGREEMENT - FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION The Board reviewed a Memorandum of January 6, 1998: TO: James Chandler County Administrator THROUGH: Robert M. Keating, AICP �rM K - Community Development Director FROM: Jacob Riger -TR MPO Planner DATE: January 6, 1998 SUBJECT: REQUEST TO ENTER INTO A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION It is requested that the information presented herein be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners at its regular meeting of January 13, 1998. DESCRIPTION & CONDITIONS At the December 2, 1997 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the Board approved the submittal of an application for Federal Transit Administration grant fiords under 49 USC Ch. 53, Section 5307 (formerly known as Section 9 of the Federal Transit Act). The grant application requested $340,000 of federal fiords in operating assistance, which is to be matched by $340,000 in local fiords. Of the $340,000 match amount, $109,571 is to come from a state Public Transit Block Grant, and $230,429 was to be provided by Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach. To receive the state Public Transit Block Grant funds, the county must enter into a Joint Participation Agreement with FDOT. 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 Section 5307 grunt award to fiord its Community Coach fixed route, dial -a -ride. and paratransit services. A significant component of the matching funds for the operating assistance portion of the Section 5307 grant comes 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. 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 500/6 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 thatched by soft -match rather than cash -match funds, the entire $109,571 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 fiords 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 October 1997 for use with this Public Transit Block Grant. By May 1998, 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 JANUARY 139 1998 0 -11- BOOK 104 PAGE 68