The Capital Area Transit System may fill a good portion of its $1.5 million budget shortfall with a “grant/loan” from the East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance Authority, says CATS Commission President Tom Govan. “This would certainly go a long way to help us continue past the Oct. 1 date we’ve been putting out there and extend our services uninterrupted through the end of the year,” Govan says.
Govan declined to discuss dollar amounts or other specifics of the proposed deal because both entities are taking it up at their respective board meetings Tuesday. CATS officials have warned since the beginning of the year that operations could cease by Oct. 1 if they can’t fill the budget shortfall, which started at $1.2 million and has since grown to approximately $1.5 million because of rising gasoline costs, Govan says. Full details of the deal will be announced Wednesday if both boards approve it Tuesday, he adds.
The deal with the EBR Mortgage Finance Authority, which traditionally facilitates home loans, is one of three funding prospects CATS is pursuing to collectively fill its budget shortfall, Govan says. In January the Metro Council rejected service cuts and fare hikes that would have filled the shortfall. The EBR Mortgage Finance Authority meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday on Hilton Avenue, and the CATS board meets at 4:30 p.m. in its second floor conference room on Florida Boulevard. —Steve Sanoski
