Jefferson County Transportation turning to municipalities for help after funding cut

by Dennis Sharkey

The only public transportation system within Jefferson County is now looking to the cities for help.

Jefferson County Services Organization(JCSO) Director Lynn Luck met with the Oskaloosa city council last Thursday, Jan. 5, to ask for help.

Last month JCSO found out from the United Way of Topeka that funding to the transportation program was going to be slashed. JCSO requested $36,000 and was granted only $6,000.

Luck said the timing and notice of the cut could not have come at a worse time.

JCSO was notified on Dec. 15 that the cuts would take effect Jan. 1. To complicate matters further a large grant through the Kansas Department of Transportation is due at the end of this month and requires matching funds. Luck said they are about $30,000 short.

Luck said the JCSO board met last week and plans to secure funding are being scrambled together.

“We don’t have it all down in black and white,” Luck said. “It was extremely short notice.”

Luck is requesting up to $1,200 annually from each of the eight cities in the county. Oskaloosa was the first to be visited. Contributions from the cities would not solve the whole funding problem but would get JCSO closer.

In addition the organization is looking at several ways to cut costs.

“There are ways that we can make our program more efficient so we’re looking at that,” she said.

Luck told the council that the program is valuable to not only the hundreds of countians who use the service, but to family members as well. She said 75 percent of patrons surveyed said a family member would have to take off work to transport them to the doctor.

Many of the patrons travel to Topeka and Lawrence for appointments but some also use the service to travel to local clinics as well. A trip could be as short as two blocks for a disabled person.

“There is no other way for them to get there,” Luck said. “It’s such a service that I would hate to see us lose the ability to take those people to the doctor.

“I could defend the needs of the service for a long time,” Luck added.

Some local Jefferson Countians have begun to help the program. Last week a local family donated $5,000 to the program. Luck appreciates the help but many times donations are a one-time thing. What she is looking for from the cities is stability.

Councilman John Norman, who is one of the councilmen overseeing finance, said he has told City Treasurer Joy Neely to look at the budget for areas where funding could come from.

“They do provide a tremendous service,” Norman said.

Norman said he knows of several elderly residents of the city that do not have family members nearby.

Luck said the transportation service could also help the cities with things such as delivering water samples to Topeka. She said cars go to Topeka about three times a week.

The council told Luck they would give her an answer at the next meeting Jan. 19.