Preliminary figures indicate NRoute could either break even or finish in the black for fiscal 2014 when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, the bus system’s accountant said.

“I’m going to try and look at it in more detail at the next meeting, since I’ve got six good months of financials to compare. I’ll try and look at a year-end projection,” Nathan Cummins of May and Co., NRoute’s accountant, told the transit system’s Board of Commissioners.

According to a year-to-date profit and loss statement report presented to the board, NRoute began the fiscal year Oct. 1 with a net income of $46,372.95, but has shown negative monthly balances in the following five months, leaving the system with a total net balance after six months of $22,452.71, despite showing an average negative balance since October of $4,784.

NRoute’s lowest monthly deficit was in November, with a negative $2,552, and high months in January and March, when it closed with negative balances of $8,082.05 and $6,744.69, respectively.

The reason for the monthly negative balances, Cummins said, was insurance payments, which are expected to be completed within three months. He said the high January balance included a third pay period, while the negative balance in March included increased fuel costs and repairs on the buses.

March fuel costs totaled $8,018.61, compared with $7,107.18 in March 2013. NRoute spent a total of $5,090.07 in parts and labor for bus repairs during March, compared with $2,094.41 for the same period in 2013, according to financial statements.

Cummins said NRoute is awaiting another installment of federal transportation grant money from the state, and executive director Evelyn Bumpers said she has asked the Warren County Board of Supervisors for the county’s annual $30,100 payment. That money, combined with the city’s monthly $16,666 supplement, could help the bus system finish the year out of the red.

After running for several years in the red, NRoute finished fiscal 2013 $1,016.20 in the black thanks to the infusion of more than $30,000 from the City of Vicksburg. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen also increased the city’s supplement from $125,000 a year to $200,000.

The board in February 2013 reduced the number of bus routes from six to three helped reduce operating costs for items like fuel and tires. It also laid off three full-time drivers and reduced two full-time office positions to part-time. The administrative assistant’s position, one of the positions moved to part-time, was restored to full-time last summer.

 

In other action, the board:

• Approved signing a contract with St. Louis-based MTM, a medical transportation management company that is expected to be providing non-emergency transportation services for Mississippi’s Medicaid patients. The board’s approval is based on MTM getting the state contract and NRoute’s drivers and vehicles meeting MTM’s requirements. The service would begin July 1.

Bumpers said the arrangement with MTM, which would include NRoute’s vans going into the county to pickup passengers for medical appointments, could net the bus system about $6,000 to $8,000 a month.

• Learned ridership on city buses was down by 275 people. As of Wednesday, 24,669 people have used NRoute’s buses compared with 24,944 for the same period last year. Fares, however, were up from last year, with collections totaling $69,214.09 compared with $38,414.32 for the same period in 2013. The increase is due to NRoute’s contracts with Warren/Yazoo Mental Health to take clients attending the center’s programs, and with MIDD-West Industries.

Warren/Yazoo pays NRoute about $3,000 a month to transport its clients, and the contract with MIDD-West allows the agency to purchase monthly passes for workers at $35 per person.