REVISION OF RIDER RELIEF, IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND SHORE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS

Transcription

1 PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE April 14, 2010 SUBJECT: ACTION: REVISION OF RIDER RELIEF, IMMEDIATE NEEDS AND SHORE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAMS APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS A. Approve increase in the Rider Relief Transportation Program's (RRTP) coupon value and adjustment of the household income eligibility based on HUD's Very Low Income limits. B. Approve the auditor's recommendation to increase the administrative fees to the Immediate Needs Transportation Program (INTP) brokers from 10% to 13% beginning FY 1 1. C. Pending fuld approval of the token value increase for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, approve increase of $79,500 for SHORE program funding. A. The Rider Relief Transportation Program (RRTP) provides fare subsidy coupons to eligible riders who purchase daily, weekly or monthly passes. An evaluation of the program to improve the effectiveness to the customers suggests changes to the coupon amounts and to income levels. The suggested increase is as follows; Regular Rider from $5 to $10, College/Vocational from $3 to $6, Senior's from $2 to $6 and Students K-12 from $2 to $6. Initially income eligibility was based on HUD's 2007 Very Low Income Limits and it has remained constant; for future fiscal years income eligibility should be adjusted to reflect latest HUD income guidelines. B. An audit of the program conducted by Vasquez and Company, LLP, found that the current cap of 10% (total program fundug) is not sufficient to operate the program effectively. We request that the administrative fees be increased from $500,000 ($250,000 each) to $650,000 ($325,000 each). C. Support for Homeless Re-Entry Program (SHORE) distributes 318,000 bus tokens to homeless persons in central Los Angeles. If Metro Board increases the value of the tokens as proposed, it will impact the program funding. We request $79,500 in additional funding which will increase the funding from $397,500 to 1477,000. This action will be pending Metro Board's approval of the token increase.

2 POLICY IMPLICATIONS The proposed RRTP revisions will not affect other Metro programs and projects. This revision will increase the program's effectiveness by enabling the coupons to be fully utilized by the eligible recipients and by serving more individuals within the same program budget. The increase in administrative fees for INTP will allow both FAC and IILA to be more effective and efficient in administering the program in accordance with the MOU requirements and the program guidelines. The action would not increase the program budget. The SHORE agencies distribute 3 18,000 tokens annually to provide critical transportation resources to their homeless clients. If the proposed increase in the token value is approved by the Board, staff requests that the SHORE budget be increased from $397,500 to $477,000 allow the token level to remain constant at 318,000 annually. DISCUSSION Rider Relief Transportation Program: When the Board of Directors approved the Metro fare adjustment, they set aside $5 million in the FY 08 Budget for the RRTP. The goal of establishing the RRTP was to help mitigate the impact of the fare adjustment on the neediest segment of the transit dependent population in Los Angeles County. We began distributing the RRTP fare media in April 2008, and in February 2009, the Board approved a motion to indude the municipal operators who have raised their fares into the program. To date, six (6) operators have joined the program. In the FY 2010 budget LACMTA has allocated $3.5 million for this program, the administrators of the program are FAME Assistance Corporation (FAC) and Human Se~ces Association (H SA). FAC and HSA have conducted surveys of the eligible individuals to understand the reasons for not participating in the program. The surveys led to the following observations: The value of the coupons offered is less than what it would cost them to find agencies that offer the coupon, fie the application and find a vendor that would accept the coupons. Majority of the eligible individuals reside in households headed by single female or grandparents raising multiple children. A stronger student and senior subsidy will assist these individuals to meet their essential transportation needs. A study of the subsidies offered by some of the cities in the county and unincorporated areas of the county revealed that the subsidy offered is based on residence and not financial need and that the average subsidy is 30% higher than our coupon value. Immediate Needs Transportation Program: LACMTA established the INTP in May 1992 and has budgeted $5 million annually for it since FAME Assistance Corporation (FAG) and the International Institute of Los Angeles (IILA) each receive $2.5 million to administer the program. In total, the two brokers work with approximately 600 agencies to distribute taxi vouchers and bus tokens to persons with limited transportation resources. Taxi coupons and bus tokens are used for Revision of Immediate Needs and Rider Relief Transportation Programs 2

3 trips to medical, shelter, case management, job search/intenriews, food and other essential destinations. TCBA audited the INTP, and we presented the audit results and our own follow-up results to the Board of Directors starting in May The last remaining audit recommendation was to reassess the fees paid to the administrators once al1 the revisions to the program were implemented. As we stated in our last quarterly update we included this in the scope of the Fiscal Year annual audit of the program conducted by Vasquez and Company LLP. The auditors found that in order to effectively and efficiently operate the program the FAC and IILA incurred administrative costs in excess of the allowable amount of 10% of the program budget. These costs were subsidized by other FAC and IILA funds. The audit recommendations included raising the administrative costs for the INTP program for both brokers from 10% to 13%, and suggested rate be revisited from time to time. Support for Homeless Re-Entrv (SHORE) Program: SHORE began in May 1994 and was developed to aid homeless persons in central Los Angeles, so that they would become self-sufecient through access to such services as schooling, employment, healthcare, and social services. SHORE recipients receive Metro tokens. Shelter Partnership, Incorporated administers the $397,500 annual token program with its own operating funds. All LACMTA subsidies go for purchasing tokens. With the value of tokens set to increase to $1.SO for FYI 1, the amount of tokens available for the SHORE program will be reduced from 318,000 to 265,000 tokens. We request that the budget be increased from $397,500 to $477,000 to allow the token level to remain constant at 318,000 annually. FINANCIAL IMPACT Funding in the amount of $7.9 million has been proposed in the FY 11 budget for this program in cost center 0441 (Non-Departmental), project (Other Subsidies-Other Agencies), account (Subsidies-to-Others). Since this is an annual program it will be the responsibility of the cost center manager and the Chief Planning Oficer for budgeting expenditures in hture years. Impact to Bus and Rail Operating and Capital Budget The hding for this project will come from Prop C Discretionary 40%. These funds are eligible for bus and rail operating and capital budgets, however, no other source of funds have been identified for this project. Should other sources be identified they will be used. OPTIONS The Board could elect not to approve these recommendations. We do not recommend this option, as approval ensures that the INTP administrators will be able to meet the demands of the program more effectively. The increase in coupon value will make the program more cost effective to the potential users. It will also increase the overall effectiveness of both programs. Revision of Immediate Needs and Rider Relief Transportation Programs 3

4 NEXT STEPS With Board approval, beginning Fiscal Year 2011, we will increase the RRTP coupon value and increase the administrative costs for INTP from 10% to 13% of the $5 million earmarked for their reimbursement. Pending Board approval of the token rate increase we will also increase the budget for SHORE program. We will also continue with annual audits and monitoring of all programs. Prepared by: Arrnineh Saint, Transportation Planning Manager Programming and Policy Analysis Revision of Immediate Needs and Rider Relief Transportation Programs

5 fl Douglas d. Failing, P.E. Interim Chief Planning Officer n ief Executive Officer Revision of Immediate Needs and Rider Relief Transportation Programs