Future unclear for 10-15 buses in Fairfield

The future of the 10-15 Transit Authority service in Fairfield is in limbo while the city of Ottumwa resolves issues identified in a re-audit of the Ottumwa Transit Authority.

The audit accuses the Ottumwa Transit Authority, an independent contractor responsible for the administration of 10-15, of overstating ridership by an estimated 50 percent, destroying records and altering driver timesheets.

Director Pam Ward and Tom Jones have been relieved of their duties with the OTA, and the Ottumwa City Council took action Tuesday to put the transit authority under the city?s direct control.

Supervisor Lee Dimmitt, representative of Jefferson County on the 11-county 10-15 board, explained the Iowa Department of Transportation is withholding $213,000 in quarterly reimbursements due 10-15, not OTA.

?We simply cannot survive without those reimbursements,? Dimmitt said, explaining income from rides is not enough to sustain the service without state and federal subsidies. He said 10-15 has enough money to operate through July.

IDOT is further demanding anywhere from $600,000 to $2 million be repaid as a result of false passenger counts and has indicated it will abandon its contract with OTA at the end of the fiscal year. The Ottumwa council?s actions Tuesday, however, are a step toward preventing that funding loss.

Dimmitt also has asked for Rep. Curt Hanson?s and Sen. Sandy Greiner?s assistance in preventing the IDOT from pulling the plug on 10-15 funding.

Dimmitt said 10-15?s contract with OTA clearly states 10-15 should be held harmless and the OTA should assume all responsibility in situations such as this.

Dimmitt also defended Ward?s actions.

?I do not believe Pam Ward did anything criminal,? Dimmitt said. ?There was no criminal intent on her part and no monetary gain on her part.?

Dimmitt said the accusation of inflated ridership is the result of rides being disallowed by the IDOT, and Ward did not ?manufacture numbers.?

Dimmitt said the discrepancy is the result of some OTA drivers not reporting the number of riders on a given day and Ward using data from recurring patterns to fill in those figures.

Another example he cited was use of the buses to transport school children on field trips during the time buses would be idle while passengers are at medical appointments. Dimmitt said the IDOT does not allow the buses to be used for transporting school children, although the transit authority is allowed and contracted to give rides to Head Start children.

Dimmitt said records were destroyed because Ward did not have storage space for five years of records. He said she actually ?cut her own throat by purging the records? because they would have supported her ridership statistics.

Dimmitt said it?s important for 10-15 to move forward and obtain legal counsel to ensure its interests, including its assets and drivers, are protected.

An emergency meeting of the 10-15 board has been scheduled for June 16.