De Pere City Administrator Larry Delo sent an email to JFC members today urging them to support the creation of a regional transit authority for the region.

The JFC is scheduled to vote today on regional transit authority proposals for the Fox Cities, which includes Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet counties, Dane County and southeast Wisconsin (Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee counties).

De Pere is in Brown County, north of the area proposed for the Fox Cities RTA, and Gov. Doyle did not include RTA enabling language that would include Brown County. But the JFC members do have the option of creating enabling legislation for a Green Bay RTA in this budget paper.

Delo said one De Pere's largest employers, Humana, is looking for solutions to access and traffic problems around their facility. They are looking to expand, and are considering other states because of a lack of mass transit options in northeast Wisconsin.

"Humana has indicated bus service is very, very important to them and will likely play a part in their decision for expansion on site or moving to a new location," writes Delo. "We believe it is very unlikely that we will be able to keep Humana in Wisconsin if they move from this location due to the level of incentives other states are willing to offer that Wisconsin does not. We also believe Humana may consider moving their other locations out of State if they move their largest facility out of State since they are also considering additional consolidations of facilities. The total job loss to our region and the State could approach 3,500 positions. The economic impact of this loss would be significant at any time. In the current economy, it would be devastating."

See Delo's letter here.

Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna is also urging the JFC to support the Fox Cities RTA proposed by Doyle - even if the Dane County and southeast Wisconsin proposals fail.

"We understand that the discussion surrounding the creation of a southeast Wisconsin RTA and a Dane County RTA primarily revolves around the issue of commuter rail," Hanna writes. "But the discussion about the creation of a Fox Cities RTA is about survival. Without the flexibility afforded by a RTA, public transportation in the Fox Cities will cease to exist by 2012."

Hanna notes that funding for Valley Transit could be in jeopardy following the 2010 census. Under federal law, urbanized areas exceeding 200,000 in population do not qualify for federal operating assistance.

The next census is expected to show the Fox Cities region to has grown to more than 200,000 residents, meaning Fox Valley Transit could lose $1.5 million in federal operating assistance, roughly 20 percent of its annual budget, Hanna said.

See Hanna's letter here.

In a separate letter, Deborah Wetter, general manager of Valley Transit, says even if federal funding remains intact, funding for the system is in jeopardy.

"Even without the added financial burden caused by the potential loss of federal operating support, our local municipalities and counties can no longer support transit systems exclusively with property taxes," Wetter writes. "Most of our partners here in the Fox Cities are at or near their levy limits."

-- By Greg Bump