A committee of RTD’s board of directors voted Tuesday night to rescind a cutback in bus and light-rail service scheduled for January that was expected to save the agency about $663,000 next year.
In justifying the decision to retain the service, some Regional Transportation District directors cited the “windfall” in funds that RTD expects to get from the full collection of sales and use taxes.
Earlier this year, a change in state law eliminated a 3.3 percent sales-tax “service fee” that businesses could deduct from their tax obligation for the collection and remittance of sales and use taxes.
RTD estimates that the temporary elimination of the discount for payers of the taxes will bring the agency an extra $3 million this year, $13 million more in 2010 and an additional $7 million in 2011. The Colorado legislature eliminated the so-called “vendor’s allowance” for retailers through June 30, 2011.
If the full RTD board agrees next week to halt service reductions that had been planned for January, it means at least two controversial cuts will not occur. One was to end bus service to the Pine Junction park-n-Ride on U.S. 285 in Jefferson County. That proposal drew strong criticism from riders on the U.S. 285 corridor.
Halting the January service reductions also will retain current 15-minute peak frequencies on a portion of bus route 205 in Boulder’s 28th Street/Gunbarrel area that had been slated to go to 30-minute frequencies.
If directors shelve the January service reductions, it will mean about two dozen other routes that had been scheduled for “service efficiencies” will remain unchanged.
Also on Tuesday night, RTD directors rejected a proposal that would have allowed for the full wrapping of light-rail cars in commercial advertising in exchange for as much as $3.3 million over three years.
“That is flat ugly,” director Jack O’Boyle said, after RTD staffers distributed photos of passenger rail cars in Portland, Ore., that sported the full ad wraps. Following Portland’s example could lead RTD to become known as the “Regional Trash Display,” O’Boyle said.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
