AGENDA #6
BUDGET WORKING PAPER
TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Kay Johnson, Finance Director
SUBJECT: Request for $15,000 for Bicycle Loan Program
DATE: June 7, 2006
At the Public Hearing on the Recommended Budget on May 10, 2006, the Council received a request from Dennis Ciriano of SURGE for the Community Bike-Loan Program to provide loaner bicycles at three locations, one location each in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and at the University. A more compete description of the program is presented in a copy of the petition in Attachment 1.
The funding request for the Program was for $15,000, with $4,000 for the start-up costs and $11,000 for the operating budget. Mr. Ciriano said that the request would cover one-fifth of the total budget cost.
Benefits of the Program as stated in the request include:
Staff comments:
We have insufficient information on the business and financial plans presented for the Community Bike-loan Program and are unable to determine the adequacy of the plans for the Program. We would need a more complete business plan to properly evaluate the proposal. In addition, we question whether the goals of the Program could be better met with a system that required less overhead.
RECOMMENDATION
We have no way of estimating the likelihood of the program’s success, nor the appropriateness of the requested funding for the program, and, so, would not recommend funding the program at this time. However, we think it would be worthwhile to refer this request to the Bicycle and Pedestrian advisory board for consideration and a recommendation to the Council. If the Council ultimately decided to fund the request, the Council’s contingency account would be available.
ATTACHMENT