A contractor leading an effort to begin a rural transit program in Carroll County says the necessary funding may be in place as early as January, with a portion of the state and federal funds already secured.

Delays have bumped the date which the program was anticipated to go into operation from this fall to late winter or early spring 2010.

Nanette Leone, a consultant to the county who is heading the rural transit project, said bureaucratic delays have slowed the process in which the county would receive the $302,000 necessary to get the project off the ground. The funding for the system is comprehensive on both the state and the federal levels, putting only a nominal burden on the county. In terms of total operational costs, the project would run upwards of $326,000 for the first year, with total capital costs coming in just below that at $292,000. The federal government will likely pay 80 percent of capital expenses with the state picking up an additional 15 percent, leaving only 5 percent to be funded on the local level.

As it was originally suggested when the project was first being discussed in February of this year, the total the county would be responsible for would come to $47,203, but an estimated two-thirds of that total would come from money paid by consumers using the service.

Now, said Leone, it looks like the actual amount the county would have to pay to make the system a reality is only $500 to $600, with the rest being paid by consumers in the form of daily fares. The amount the county would be responsible for is a relatively small amount for a county with an annual budget of nearly $50 million, Leone said.

“It’s really not very much money,” Leone said. “It really isn’t much at all.”

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted in early February to request state and federal aid to jump-start the program. That decision came less than a month after the board voted down a similar resolution to create a rural transit system in the county, citing concerns that outside funding would fall through and leave the county to foot the entire project on its own. It passed only after it was decided that the county could opt out of pursuing such a system should state and federal funding not materialize as anticipated.

Leone said that despite the delays, the funding, which would come on the state level through the Georgia Department of Transportation and on the federal level as part of the most recent stimulus package, is still likely to be available by the beginning of next year. Already, the county has been approved for about $10,000 for the purchase of computers and radios for the system.

As it was proposed, residents would be able to call a central hub 24 hours in advance of needing a ride to place a ride request. The next day, when the time comes, they’ll be picked up and dropped off for a small fee. Most rides will cost $1 or $2, though longer trips from one end of the county to the other could range upwards of $10.

The system will be open to all county residents but it will specifically serve the disabled, the elderly and those without access to a car.

Considering the state of the economy, such a system would provide much benefit to families in the county, as job losses have made it difficult for some residents to afford keeping the tank filled and the engine serviced, Leone said.

“Times are tough for people right now,” she said. “I think this would really help a lot of people out who are in a tough situation.”

But not everyone is confident that such a system would prove beneficial at this point for Carroll County. Commissioner Kevin Jackson has long opposed a rural transit system, citing concerns that it might become a financial burden on the county if the state and federal funds didn’t materialize, or if they did materialize but then got pulled off the table later. He was also the sole commissioner at Tuesday’s meeting voting against instituting drug testing for all employees hired to work in the county transit system because, he said, he didn’t want to incur any more costs associated with rural transit.

“I just don’t think it’s the government’s responsibility to provide you with a ride to town, and I certainly don’t think it’s the responsibility of the taxpayers to fund it,” Jackson said. “So, during these difficult times, I certainly oppose it.”