NRoute heads into August anticipating about a $15,000 deficit — $35,000 in revenue and $50,000 in expenses — the transportation system’s commissioners were told Wednesday.

“It’s getting tighter and tighter,” said Nathan Cummins of May and Company, NRoute’s accountants.

Part of the problem, he said, is that NRoute faces three pay periods in August, which at about $9,000 per period, is one of the system’s larger monthly expenses. NRoute employees are paid twice a month, on the first and 15th, but Sept. 1 comes on a Saturday, meaning workers will be paid Aug. 31.

NRoute’s monthly allocation of about $20,000 in federal transportation funds, executive director Evelyn Bumpers said, will not be available until about Aug. 15. The $11,250 monthly supplement from Vicksburg is expected Aug. 10.

The bus system’s financial picture for August is the latest in a series of money problems for NRoute. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in June gave the bus system a $7,045 supplement to meet bills for that month and an additional $7,950 on July 16 to pay July bills.

Bumpers and commissioners Don Brown and Mark Buys, joined by Mayor Paul Winfield, asked Warren County supervisors Monday for $25,000. The supervisors gave NRoute $30,000 at the start of the fiscal year. A decision is expected Tuesday.

Contacted after the meeting, Winfield said he told Bumpers that he would do what he could to keep NRoute viable, but added, “I’m only one of three,” referring to the three-member City Board.

A cash flow statement presented to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen by Cummins in May indicated that NRoute would lose an average of about $16,700 a month from July through Sept. 30. However, an updated report sent to the board on July 13 with Bumpers’ request for $7,950 showed a projected loss of about $19,200 per month for the last three months of the fiscal year.

NRoute’s 2012 budget is $780,000, and early projections for the final months of the fiscal year put its revenues at $40,000 and expenses at $50,000.

Its main funding sources are the city’s monthly supplement, federal transportation grant funds administered by the Mississippi Department of Transportation and fares from riders. The federal grant is a reimbursement grant, meaning NRoute pays the bills up front and is reimbursed at a percentage, 80 percent for administration and capital costs, and 50 percent for operations.

Missing from its 2012 income stream is about $200,000 in stimulus money, which NRoute had in fiscal 2011. About $7,800 remains, but it is designated for bus repair equipment and parts.

Ridership through July was 204 people higher than the same time in fiscal 2011, but fares were down about $345 from 2011, and down about $12,190 from fiscal 2010.

In other action, the board approved a contract with Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Service to provide bus service for its clients.