CORINTH — The city’s transit service for seniors and people with disabilities may be headed for a dead end if its budget demands continue to accelerate, city leaders say. 

Corinth will spend about $46,000 to subsidize the service provided by Denton County Transportation Authority buses this year — double the amount spent in 2009 and a tenfold increase over 2008, officials said.

“It’s time to deal with it,” Interim City Manager Jim Berzina said.

The City Council has called a public hearing for 7 p.m. today at City Hall. The city sent a letter inviting all 44 qualified riders to the meeting. Between 25 and 30 of those riders are using the service regularly, Berzina said.

Residents’ increased demand for the service has contributed, in part, to the increasing costs. But DCTA has also told the city it will be billing for the full cost of each ride this year, Berzina said.

Qualified riders, who are 65 and older or have a disability, pay a fraction of the full cost — $2.50 each way for a trip that costs between $20 and $40 to provide.

Corinth and DCTA first signed a contract to provide the service in 2007, which was a carryover from similar service provided by Lewisville, according to Jarod Varner, DCTA’s managing director for bus operations.

A countywide election established the transportation authority, funding it with a half-cent sales tax, in 2003. But most Denton County cities, including Corinth, rejected membership. When DCTA offered cities a second chance at membership in 2006, the Corinth City Council called another election but, under intense political pressure, later canceled it.  

As a result, Corinth’s transit service comes with no other base of support to offset the cost. Federal grants for transit services in rural areas are more flexible in subsidizing operating costs, Varner said, but Corinth has too many people for that kind of help.

The first year, Corinth paid DCTA $6,186 to provide transportation to qualified residents; the following year, contract costs dipped to $4,706. But as city leaders closed the books on 2009, they saw costs jump to $19,177. Based on usage patterns and the new billing requirement, the staff projected $46,000 for transit services in 2010.

Citing budget demands, Hickory Creek opted out of the service altogether last year, Varner said, but cities have the option to put limits on the service.

“The way the contract is written now, we can’t control costs and the amount of service,” Varner said, adding that the city is required to provide the ride if able to work it into its schedule.

Similar to DCTA, SPAN — Special Programs for Aging Needs — provides transportation services in rural areas of Denton County and to some cities through contracts. Riders pay a nominal fee — from $2 to $4 per trip — as SPAN taps state and federal grants to subsidize its operations.

When transportation services are funded by grants, service providers must follow the rules of the grants, which often don’t allow them to restrict rider access, according to Jennifer Sorenson, SPAN’s communications director.

“We have no interest in the type of service,” Sorenson said. “If we pick up in Pilot Point, we’ll take you to the beauty shop in Denton if that’s where you’re going.

“Of course, we’d prefer that you went to the beauty shop in Pilot Point.”

When cities pay for the service out of their general funds, they usually take one of two different views: social service or infrastructure, Sorenson said.

“When it’s viewed as a social service, and not an infrastructure support, cities can dictate what they can support,” Sorenson said.

Like any other charitable contribution, cities want to show they are helping the most people for their money. Or they may decide they can support trips for medical treatments or to buy food.

“But social calls are harder to pay for,” Sorenson said.

However, if a city treats its transportation contributions as infrastructure support, it’s harder to be selective on who can get a ride.

For example, SPAN provides transportation for a client with a disability who, even when his mother gives him a ride, doesn’t earn enough at work to pay for the cost to get there.

“There’s more to work, sometimes, than just that [paycheck],” Sorenson said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.