The Fremont County Association of Governments has created a new ground transportation fund to help distribute half-cent tax money to local transportation agencies serving areas the Wind River Transportation Authority doesn’t reach.
Two Dubois-based organizations have already applied for some of the funding: High Country Senior Citizens and Warm Valley Lodge.
Both groups have now entered into an agreement with FCAG to receive $500 each per month in half percent sales tax revenues through the remainder of FCAG’s fiscal year, which ends in June, Dubois Mayor Patricia Neveaux said this week.
They may reapply in the spring to receive funding for the next fiscal year, which begins in July.
Months-long effort
Neveaux has been working for months to bring half-cent transportation funding to Dubois – a town that doesn’t benefit from WRTA services.
“I’m glad that we just kept at it,” she said this week. “After we got it all figured out it was very, very easy to take care of.”
She commended the WRTA’s new director, Tim Nichols, for his help in the effort, which he said shows FCAG’s desire to respond to public feedback about half cent distributions.
“They want to make sure the public is happy,” Nichols said. “These are tax dollars owned by everybody, and if they are not currently seeing services in ground transportation … they’re entitled (to) some of these funds.”
Other qualified entities can apply for support from the new ground transportation fund too, he added, noting that, while the WRTA is the “largest public transportation provider by far” in Fremont County, and it does “take a lot of funds to operate,” he doesn’t want the agency to “have the reputation that we’re hogging all the half cent” money.
“We can proportionately allocate (the funding),” Nichols said. “(The money) is very appropriately being distributed centrally from FCAG in recognition of need.”