Kalkaska — The Kalkaska Public Transit Authority is seeking increased funds through a millage proposal.
The millage proposal asks for just over 423 thousand dollars and would cost someone who owns 100-thousand dollars of taxable property--14 dollars a year--for 5 years.
Director of Kalkaska Public Transit Authority Tracy Fisher said if the millage goes through, they can proceed with much needed upgrades to services and equipment.
“What we would like to do is expand our countywide services to better serve our senior and aging population.”
Kalkaska Commission on Aging director Jodi Magee said the seniors she works with could benefit from increased transit services.
“A lot of our seniors also seek treatment for cancer, and the transit will cover that cost over there, and it just gives us peace of mind,” said Magee. So, one of the things that you also mentioned is, if the millage has to increase, services on weekends. So that the people who go shopping and different activities.
Transit accessibility is limited because the bus doesn’t run on weekends.
This mean people scheduling appointments or trying to get to work outside of Monday through Friday are often stuck.
“Improving accessibility for people that live in the county. I’d like to expand our non-emergency services, which is services that residents take to doctors’ appointments in surrounding areas,” said Fisher. “Right now, we’re very limited, to be able to expand it and have more drivers and more vehicles available for that. I think that would be good for our town.”
The Kalkaska Transit Authority would also like to upgrade their dispatch equipment to a more efficient system.
“Ours is still paper and pencil which is inefficient,” said Fisher. “Things are written down, transferred, put into spreadsheets and put into documents. All of our state and federal reporting that we have to do on a regular basis, all has to be done manually.”
Residents will vote on the transportation millage on August 4th.