As the federal government shutdown continues, Connect Transit is dipping into its reserves to continue operations.
General Manager Isaac Thorne said the transit agency usually draws federal funding at the end of the month. But, with the government shutdown, those funds don’t exist.
“Right now it’s not presenting any problems for us. However, if this is prolonged shutdown, goes two, three, four, six months, it’s going to have an effect on our ability to collect our federal funding and pay our expenses,” Thorne said.
He said if the shutdown hits the 30-day mark, he may have to look for alternate short-term options like a revolving line of credit.
“We have a pretty large amount of reserve money available from local Town of Normal or City of Bloomington that we have for local capital that we can use and draw upon,” Thorne said. “But once you get to that four- to six-month mark, that's when we really need to make a drawdown.”
The shutdown is set to become the longest-lasting federal government shutdown at midnight Friday.
Editor's note: GLT Program Director Mike McCurdy is chair of Connect Transit's board.
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