Rolison: “not sustainable”
POUGHKEEPSIE – Mayor Robert Rolison late Friday vetoed the Poughkeepsie
Common Council’s resolution to fund the city’s bus system
through the end of the year. The mayor’s budget provides enough
money to carry the system through the end of June and have Dutchess County
assimilate the city service in its county system.
In his veto message, Rolison said the council’s move to continue funding is not sustainable. He pointed to declining ridership, compliance issues and an aging bus fleet.
While a majority of council members voted this week to provide the additional funding to “buy time” to further study the future of mass transit, Rolison said they provided no alternatives.
“The debate in our city about the sustainability of our local transit system has gone on long enough,” the mayor wrote in his veto message. “Throughout the years, as this issue has been talked about and then ignored – our general fund deficit has grown to a staggering $13 million, our bond rating has been lowered three consecutive times, our fiscal stress level has been noted by the state comptroller, and we have been accepted by the state’s Financial Restructuring Board as one of a few cities in New York State in need of extraordinary financial assistance.”
Rolison said while the city continues to debate the future of bus service, its police officers have gone without a contract for years, “essential maintenance and infrastructure work was deferred, the roof of City Hall began to leak, and vital positions like the city’s development director were eliminated.”
The common council vote on Wednesday was 5-3. That is one short of the six needed for an override. If the veto stands, funding for the buses will end on June 30.
