NRoute finishes first half of fiscal year in black
Published 12:00 am Sunday, April 26, 2015
NRoute finished the first half of the 2015 fiscal year with a net income of $20,953.34, according to a profit and loss statement prepared by May & Co., the public transit system’s accountant.
May & Co. representative Nathan Cummins presented the report to NRoute’s Board of Commissioners Wednesday.
“Overall, there are some ups and downs here and there, but for the most part, there’s nothing significantly bigger or less than last year, as far as income and expenses go,” he said. “It’s pretty well on course same as last year, and last year wasn’t a bad year.”
According to a cash flow projection based on anticipated revenue and expenses as of April 30, he said, the worse case scenario for the bus system is $12,000 cash in hand at the end of the year.
“That would be the least amount of revenue and the least amount of expenses you will see,” he said.
NRoute finished fiscal 2014 in the black with a net income of $18,499.70 for the first time in seven years.
Organized in 2006 as a city-operated bus system, NRoute became an independent operation run by a five-member, city-appointed board in 2007. Until 2014, the bus system, despite receiving a city supplement, had been plagued with cost overruns, finishing with a deficit each year.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2013 increased the then-cash strapped transit system’s annual supplement from $125,000 to $200,000 for fiscal 2014, and provided cash and in-kind services totaling more than $70,000 to help NRoute avoid a projected $55,532 deficit at the close of fiscal 2013. The supplement has been renewed for fiscal 2015.
The commissioners in March 2013 cut NRoute’s bus routes from six to three and laid off three drivers in a move that saved the bus system about $108,706 per year.
The commissioners in April 2013 reduced two full-time administrative employees to part-time, cutting their salaries and removing insurance benefits in a move that saved about $21,060 a year. One administrative assistant position was restored to full-time in June, and the other returned for full-time in March.
In other action, the board:
• Set the regular meeting day as the fourth Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. The meeting date and time was never specified in the board’s bylaws.
• Declared Monday a holiday for Confederate Memorial Day.
• Learned ridership through Wednesday was 26,005 people, 440 more than the 25,565 people who rode the buses during the same period in fiscal 2014. Revenue for fares were down by $3,678.60, from $63,087.81 in 2014 to $59,409.21 through Wednesday.