Hearings On Metra Budget

The Metra Board of Directors approved the release of the agency’s proposed 2011 Program proposed 2011 Program and Budget booknd Budget book for public hearing and comment.

Metra’s proposed 2011 budget includes $634.2 million for operations and a $407.5 million capital program. No fare increase is planned in 2011.

Lower than projected ridership and sales tax receipts coupled with higher insurance and maintenance costs will force Metra to transfer $35 million from its 2010 capital program and $25 million from its 2011 capital program to operations for use on preventive maintenance in 2011. The agency also proposes to continue to delay filling vacancies and to combine job functions to reduce costs in 2011.

The proposed 2011-2015 capital program includes the allocation of $585 million in State of Illinois bond program proceeds to replace 160 Highliner cars on the Metra Electric District. State bond proceeds and other capital funding will be allocated in the amount of $175.8 million to complete a number of station and parking improvements across the Metra system.

Public hearings on Metra’s 2011 budget will be held on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 at locations throughout the six-county region. A list of the dates, times and locations of these hearings accompanies this news release. Copies of the budget will be available for review online at www.metrarail.com and will be distributed to municipalities and libraries across the region.

Following the public comment period, the Metra Board will vote on a final budget at its Nov. 19 meeting. The budget will then be forwarded to the Regional Transportation Authority, which will vote on the region’s transportation budget in December.

Metra Proposed 2011 Budget Public Hearing Schedule

METRA PROOSED BUDGET HEARINGS
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
LAKE COUNTY	McHenry County
Grayslake Village Hall	Woodstock City Hall
Village Board Room	City Council Chambers
10 S. Seymour	121 W. Calhous St.
Grayslake, IL	Woodstock IL
Suburban Cook (N)	Suburban Cook (S)
Arlington Heights Village Hall	Homewood Village Hall
Hanson Room – 3rd  Floor	Village Board Room
33 S. Arlington Heights Rd.	2020 Chestnut Road
Arlington Heights, IL	Homewood, IL
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 4
City of Chicago	DuPage County
METRA	Clarendon Village Hall
547 W. Jackson	Village Board Room
13th Floor Board Room	1 North Prospect Ave.
Chicago, IL	Clarendon, IL
	Will County
	Joliet City Hall
	Conference Room #1
	150 W. Jefferson St.
	Joliet, IL