People First

People First
Fox Cities-
Menasha

P.F.F.C. Board
Kimmer Brehmer
President
Don Fascio Jr.
Vice President
Jennifer Kuhr
Secretary
Tom Haskamp
Treasurer
* * * * * * *
LeeAnn Stein
Advisor

A program sponsored by:
Arc Fox Cities
375 Winnebago Ave.
Menasha, WI 54952

Phone: 920-725-0943
Fax: 920-725-1531
Email: pffcmenasha@arcfoxcities.com

April 16, 2010
Dear Representative :
Public transportation plays a vital part in our ability to get around the community. We rely on the Valley Transit to get to work, to get to doctor appointments, to go to the grocery stores and to different entertainment venues around the Fox Cities. The discussion about the creation of a Fox Cities RTA is about survival of our public transit system.
We urge you to support AB 282 and AB 734, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bills which would allow the Fox Cities the right to form an RTA. Currently, the State of Wisconsin legislation does not allow for a Fox Cities RTA. Assuming no changes in federal regulations, once the 2010 Census figures are released, the Fox Cities population will exceed 200,000. As a result, Valley Transit will lose approximately $1.5 million in federal operating funds annually, about 20% of our budget. If local municipalities were to absorb the loss, it would mean up to a 130% increase in their costs just to maintain existing transit services.
We are asking that a Fox Cities RTA be formed to preserve the system we have. Both AB 282 and AB 734 allow maximum local control of the RTA while protecting the tax-payers by mandating a referendum specifying the amount of sales tax collected, if any, in the communities that choose to be members of the RTA.
While relying on action at the federal level to restore funding is one option, efforts since 2003 to accomplish this have not been successful and time is running out. We need local options in place to protect the transit system we currently have.
We would appreciate your support on this important issue. By supporting AB 282 and AB 734, you are not voting for a tax. You are simply giving residents of the Fox Cities the right to decide what they want the future of public transit in the Fox Cities to be.
Sincerely,
Kimmer Brehmer Scott Birling
Don Fascio Jr. Mike Thompson
Tom Haskamp Shannon Grawien
Jennifer Kuhr Tammie Jesse
Robert Kuhr Mark Andersen
Carol Peterson David Trams
LeeAnn Stein

Helping people with differing abilities in Wisconsin to speak up and be heard.