CATS signs off on missing paperwork for loan

The CATS Board of Directors convened a special board meeting this morning to sign off on “a piece of paperwork” that it had missed in June when the board requested permission from the state Bond Commission to seek a $3 million bond loan to keep buses running through the end of the year, says Chairman Jared Loftus. Though voters in April approved a 10.6-mill property tax to bolster and improve CATS, collection doesn’t begin until December and this year’s budget had faced a deficit of $2.1 million. Loftus says the loan will be paid back with future tax collections. “This basically is borrowing against the revenue on the tax we’ll receive next year,” Loftus says. CATS officials have said in the past the deficit stems from a loss of state and federal grants, along with the increasing cost of fuel and maintenance. The new tax is expected to generate about $16 million annually. CATS’ current budget is around $12 million. —Adam Pearson