AMSTERDAM, N.Y. – Financial woes have caused the Amsterdam Common Council to eliminate the city’s transit system.
The council voted to amend the city charter requirement for public transportation, a decision that came after audit reports found a department deficit that at times has topped $200,000. The city as a whole is facing a $5 million deficit.
“This wasn’t an easy decision because it affects our citizens who really need it the most,” Amsterdam Mayor Michael Villa said. “But we have to weigh every factor that’s going to impact the entire city.”
The Albany Times-Union reported that Amsterdam’s buses were averaging 60 riders a day, 20 of them bound for Albany.
Council members said the city’s financial deficit was inherited from the previous administration.
“We did not know what the true numbers were,” Villa said. “We hired an outside accounting firm, and for the first time in seven or eight years we’re current in our financials, but when you turn the light on it’s scary.”
Councilman William Baaki said a decreasing population has further hurt the city’s finances.
“The downsizing of the population and tax base necessarily leads to the downsizing of government, and the mayor has proposed (public transportation) as likely the first of many downsizings,” Baaki said. “The transition period won’t be without difficulties.”
Many residents are unhappy with the council’s vote.
Nancy Rad, community schools coordinator for the Greater Amsterdam School District, said in a letter to the council that eliminating the transit system will hurt students who need rides to school and to afterschool jobs.
Villa and the council members said they were sympathetic to the needs and concerns of the residents who use the bus, but Villa said they were “put in a position where there were no other options.”
Council members are hoping a local private company would step up and provide bus services for residents.
