By: Diane Benjamin
https://www.connect-transit.com/documents/BUDGET%20DOCUMENT%20-%20Final_Revised.pdf
I read it so you don’t have to. It reads like a socialist dream, Connect wants to be “a sought after expert in transportation solutions”. (PDF page 11)
That won’t happen with huge empty buses!
Excerpts:
PDF page 7: (You need to see that last one!)
PDF page 11:
PDF page 13:
This is a budgeted loss of $12,080,000
PDF page 14: (not expecting ridership increase!)
PDF page 15:
PDF page 16:
PDF page 27:
PDF page 30: Maintenance costs are going down so more supervisors are needed? Of course more pencil pushers are needed.
The only way to restore sanity is to change who is appointed to the Board. That means changing the mayors.
I’m convinced, Diane. You need to be the person appointed to the Connect Transit Board. No one else has done the research and is familiar with the concerns, various topics, and issues with Connect Transit as you are. When can we sign the petition? 🙂
Both mayors and a lot of both council despise the truth, plus I don’t live in either city. Not going to happen.
If you live in Bloomington or Normal aren’t you already in a “Transit Taxing District” since our city councils are already flushing a boat load of your tax money down the Disconnect drain? Just another greedy governmental unit going after more of your money to line their pockets and pensions with!
Just shut it down. I’m tired of paying for people who can’t or won’t take care of themselves.
If they form a transit taxing district, then Connect Transit will be a line item on your property tax just like the school district, library, , community college, forest preserve, etc. This is a property tax increase. I used to live in Chambana, which has the MTD. The MTD was a transit taxing district. These have boundaries. My subdivision wasn’t part of it, but MTD wanted to annex it. We didn’t want to pay property taxes for a bus service we didn’t want. So we formed our own transit district. It didn’t collect any taxes or provide any service, but it blocked the MTD annexation. This was about the time I moved to BLONO, and I believe after a court fight MTD eventually won. Bottom line, Connect Transit wants to collect property taxes from you.
That frees up a lot of money for Bloomington and Normal, so they will be pushing for it. Last time I checked MTD lost $30,000,000 a year, a lot of the riders were U of I students.
Led by the former director of Connect Transit.
I have a question. From the pdf page 7 where it says “action 5. Explore increased local funding support with local governments” would they try to get money from the county and the county board? I would think they can’t because the rest of the communities in McLean County does not have access to public transit.
I would think if they could they already would have.
READ: An EXPERT in sucking the life blood taxing money out of local people, while IGNORING the NEEDS and WANTS or OUR ridership, inna nutshell-WE DON”T GIVE A DAMN!
Meanwhile Tippy Toe Twinkle Tari supports this Taxing Trauma!
As if we didn’t already know it, these people clearly do not have a clue.
“Action 1: Serve as a model public agency in the community and a sought-after expert in transportation solutions.”
They can’t count, as that is two distinct things, not one line item.
They don’t understand the concept of expertise. Expertise is learned; and being sought-after is earned, by being notably effective or innovative, things they notably are not. If this is an Action rather than a goal in itself, all that is needed is an update to their paint jobs, stationery, and website.
I suppose given that we are in Illinois, they Are a model public agency. Most places that would mean providing great, cost-effective service based on being very responsive to their customers and constituents. Here in IL, government is better known for ignoring the well-being of the public, raking in tax money, and spending it lavishly on public employees and pet projects of politicians with little regard to cost efficiency; in that regard I suppose they could be considered a ‘model public agency’.
IL is the highest-taxed state in the country in no small part because it has the most taxing bodies per capita. Allowing CT to become its own taxing body will only make things worse.