PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Kalamazoo Metro Transit system will be seeking a millage increase to help fund the local transit system when they ask voters for a renewal this November.
Director Sean McBride told the Portage city council last night their costs are increasing at a time when their government subsidies are decreasing.
He says they will be asking for 1.1 mill, that’s 2/10’s of a mill more than they get now.
He says they have seen the same inflationary pressures as everyone else since the pandemic, and seen the cost of commodities, labor, even the cost of a bus rise significantly.
He says they have already been informed that their state subsidy will probably decrease again next year, due to declining gas tax revenues.
The vote only applies to the area of the county where the Line Haul Service runs, which are the cities of Kalamazoo, Portage, and Parchment, along with Kalamazoo and Comstock townships and parts of Oshtemo Township.
McBride says the majority of their riders use the service because it’s their only way to get to work, to school or to go shopping.
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