Okaloosa County commissioners have scheduled a public hearing Sept. 3 to discuss the proposed elimination of bus routes in Crestview and Destin.
The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the county Courthouse in Crestview.
Okaloosa County Transit, the nonprofit group that operates the buses, has seen its state and federal funding dwindle dramatically, leaving it with major budget shortfalls.
OCT requested $525,000 from the county for the 2013-14 fiscal year. That was a $235,000, or 80 percent, increase over this year.
Commissioners rejected that proposal and say OTC will have to make due with the $290,000 it received this year.
To make its budget, OTC has proposed cutting its two routes in Crestview, which has lost riders in the past year, and possibly one route in Destin.
Commissioner Wayne Harris warned Crestview residents last year that a drop-off in passengers could result in losing the city’s two routes.
“I think I made my point very clear,” he said. “If you’re not going to use it, you’re going to lose it.”
Commissioner Nathan Boyles said public transit is one of the county’s tools to provide residents with an “adequate transportation network.”
But he said he has concerns about OTC’s survival in the face of future state and federal funding cuts.
“I’m not convinced that the current system we have is the most effective tool we could acquire for the money we are spending,” he said.
Boyles said the board owes it to OTC to give it some “finality,” and that he plans to propose at “step-down defunding process” for the agency.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
