AUGUSTA – Despite a partial reprieve this week, regional transportation providers say state budget cuts could still leave people without rides to doctor appointments and needed programs.

A state department head has recommended restoring more than half of the money that had been cut earlier this year from the two-year budget for state-funded transportation.

But some non-profit agencies fear the gesture might not be enough.

“It is still serious enough that it could jeopardize the existence of the program,” said Mary Ellen Therriault, spokeswoman for Community Concepts Inc. of Auburn.

Her organization provides about 225,000 rides to more than 10,000 people each year for everything from child services to dialysis, she said. The agency dispatches about 300 volunteer drivers who use their own cars to shuttle clients to and from appointments. Last year, they logged more than 7.7 million miles.

Not all details of the funding are available, leaving many agency heads like Therriault uncertain of the exact impact on services.

The Department of Human Services, responsible for doling out money for transportation through its Bureau of Medical Services, has not yet identified which agencies would receive how much money. Also competing for a piece of the pie are taxis, local bus services and wheelchair vans.

“It’s good news that money has been restored, no doubt about it. We appreciate that,” said Eugene Skibitsky, general manager at Western Maine Transportation Services, which operates in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties. “But we still don’t know how it’s going to affect programs.”

Connie Garber, spokeswoman for York County Community Action Corp. called the uncertainty “nerve wracking.” She said she has been peppered with questions over funding. “Everybody’s asking me what does this mean? I don’t have enough information yet to answer.”

Skibitsky is hoping DHS officials will clarify funding next week when they are expected to try to sell their latest budget recommendations to state lawmakers.

The department’s Acting Commissioner Peter Walsh said Thursday that nearly two-thirds of the money cut earlier likely would be put back in the budget by shifting state money and leveraging more federal funding.

That would still leave his department with about $1.2 million (including matching federal money) less than originally budgeted for transportation in each of the next two years.

“We’re still working on it,” he said. “We can’t promise that we’re going to have the whole million dollars back in the system.”

Cutting money for transportation had been a painful option but necessary to close a projected $1.2 billion deficit, he said.

“We didn’t want to do this. Nobody wanted to do this,” he said. “We realize that transportation is an extremely important service.”

State funding covers rides for a broad range of people, including Medicaid patients, mentally retarded people and children, to their doctors, programs and schools.

Walsh said his department also is working with transportation providers to identify areas where services could be made more efficient or be consolidated.

“We’re looking at ways we can develop scheduling so that we can make sure there are the maximum number of people on the bus,” he said.

Despite the bleak outlook, Therriault said her organization is not giving up.

“We are still hopeful that we can work out a way we can continue services,” she said. “I don’t want to make it sound like we are throwing in the towel. We want to find a way to continue what we know is a very vital service.”

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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