St. Marys and Area Mobility Services – an accessible, volunteer-driven transportation program for seniors and people with disabilities – has asked politicians for a significant annual budget increase as it attempts to navigate a period of rising inflation and high demand.
St. Marys and Area Mobility Services – an accessible, volunteer-driven transportation program for seniors and people with disabilities – has asked politicians for a significant annual budget increase as it attempts to navigate a period of rising inflation and high demand.
“Without additional funding support, the only way to ensure we could continue to cover operational costs is by raising client fees, something we desperately wish to avoid,” Lauren Beer, the organization’s manager, told St. Marys council at a budget meeting this week .
“Post-pandemic in particular, with costs being so high compared to where they were before, we’re really at that point. (We’ll) need to raise fees if we want to continue providing service the way that we do.”
St. Marys and Area Mobility Services was founded in 1992. The organization is a member of EasyRide, a regional transportation service shared by community support agencies across Perth and Huron counties. It offers low-cost transportation options to older adults, people recovering from injury or illness, and others requiring accessible rides in St. Marys, Perth South, Zorra Township and Thames Centre.
Accomplishing that mission has recently become more difficult, Beer said, especially as insurance costs for the organization’s fleet of four vehicles continue to climb and rising inflation begins to creep into operational costs.
“The cost for insurance, for example, doubled in 2021,” Beer said. “Our cost for wages, fuel, vehicle maintenance, all of those things are much higher now in particular but have been continually increasing over the past number of years.”
On top of that, Beer added, are rental and IT costs also expected to increase as St. Marys reviews the informal agreements it has with various third-party organizations using its network. That broad review, council heard Tuesday, is being undertaken as the town continues to audit its computer network in the wake of a cybersecurity breach last summer.
St. Marys and Area Mobility Services rents office space at the Pyramid Recreation Centre, where its shuttles park, and uses town email addresses and an internal phone number. A new legal agreement will better reflect “the market value of that relationship between (the organization) and the Town of St. Marys,” Beer said, “but it’s definitely a significant financial increase for our organization.”
Beer requested from councilors Tuesday an extra $35,000 per year from a public transportation reserve fund the town bolsters with its annual share of Ontario’s Gas Tax program. If approved, the town’s contribution to St. Marys and Area Mobility Services will be $115,000 per year, a figure that was last increased in 2014.
Councilors, including St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee, seemed amendable to the increase Tuesday, but efforts to discuss how the town could help the organization have been put on hold.
Brent Kittmer, the chief administrator in St. Marys, recommended councilors delay their decision until the cybersecurity review is completed and they’ve had a chance to see the new agreements staff are working on with third-party services.
“At that point in time, that’s where you would consider how they use town space, what town services they use and what rent you want to charge,” he said.
A report is expected back at town hall before April 1.
In the meantime, Robert Hough, chair of the St. Marys and Area Mobility Services’ board of directors, told councilors the organization plans to start working on cost projections for the next five years.
“In the future, if we’re forced to move to electrification of our vehicles, that will be another expense,” Hough said. “In a way, the board really hasn’t been able to look forward five or 10 years to see where we’re going to be. We’ve been trying to cope with the changes that have come through and get stabilized.”
St. Marys and Area Mobility Services receives about 10 per cent of its funding through Ontario Health, Beer said.
The organization provides service to an average of 200 to 250 clients per year, a number that has increased since a Stratford-based taxi provider that was offering service in St. Marys recently stopped operating.
Close to half of those clients are 70 or older, Beer said, and most clients are on a fixed income.
“Increased client fees, even a few dollars per month, really puts the burden onto our clients,” she said. “We don’t want transportation to be cost prohibitive for the seniors we support. At the end of the day, if transportation becomes too expensive … we won’t be able to continue operating due to lack of use, so it really is a delicate balance of finding the best way to support the people we do while balancing our budget as well.”