Officials consider Citibus budget transfers
The proposed merger between Kingston Citibus and UCAT bus system caused some of the city’s drivers to switch departments.
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> The proposed merger between Kingston Citibus and the Ulster County Area Transit bus system caused some of the city’s drivers to switch departments, leading to increased overtime costs for Citibus, according to City Transit Supervisor Toni Roser.
The Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee on Wednesday moved forward a $60,000 internal budget transfer request for Citibus, which included the transfer of $30,000 into an overtime budget line and $17,500 into a line for substitute employees. The remainder of the money was to be transferred into budget lines for vehicle maintenance and general materials and supplies.
The money was to come primarily from the regular pay budget line for Citibus, though there also was a request to use $20,000 from the city’s contingency fund.
The budget transfers must still be approved by the full council, which meets again Tuesday, Dec. 4.
In a letter to Common Council President James Noble, Roser said the transfers were necessary “because of the announcement of a merger between the Citibus and UCAT (Ulster County Area Transit), we had several drivers that went to DPW (Department of Public Works) to keep their city retirements, benefits and accrued time.”
She said the drivers were not sure what the status of their employment would be in 2018.
The move left Citibus with five drivers to cover eight different routes, Roser added. She said Citibus had to cut back on one of its paratransit routes and have that driver stay late for overtime, as needed, to return passengers. Roser said Citibus also used substitutes that ended up receiving overtime pay as well.
City Comptroller John Tuey told the committee Roser submitted the budget transfer at his request. He said the $20,000 coming from the contingency fund was a conservative amount and would leave the city still with approximately $634,000 in that account.
Tuey said the staffing shortfalls in Citibus caused the system to continually run into overtime situations. He said the budget transfers would essentially get the Citibus accounts back to where they need to be for the remainder of the year, though there might be some adjustments at year end.
“Right now they’re $27,000 over budget in overtime,” Tuey said. He said, though, Citibus had been able to hire three drivers in August that should help them get back on the right track.
The merger of Kingston Citibus and Ulster County Area Transit first was suggested three years ago during the negotiation of a citycounty sales tax agreement. The results of a consultant’s study on the merger were then released in November 2017.
Last month, Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said there was no signed agreement yet for the planned merger of the bus systems but that action would likely occur soon.