WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — It was a packed house at the week's Williamsport City Council Meeting.
The big topic on the agenda is transportation.
City Council unanimously voted in favor of creating a transit authority to relieve the city of handling finances for the local bus system.
"They will have their own board. They will have their own executive director. They will have their own separate finances. So, when state and federal transit dollars come in, it will go into the authority, and there will be no co-mingling of money with the city," said Mayor Derek Slaughter.
In March of 2021, Newswatch 16 broke the story about the state attorney general's investigation into the city of Williamsport's finances.
An audit of the city's finances in 2019 showed the transit system was more than 10 million dollars in debt.
River Valley Transit operates on State and federal grants.
"A transit agency the size of RVT should not have any debt and should definitely not have debt in the double-digit millions. When the auditor saw that, that was definitely a red flag that something incorrect was happening with the finances," added Mayor Slaughter.
The authority will begin to oversee River Valley Transit starting on July 1.
This transition of power will have no effect on RVT employees or bus schedules.
"I can tell you based upon our conversations that pensions, seniority, and anything you can think of we have thought about, and the employees will lose nothing, and we will be sure the city loses nothing," said Adam Winder, RVT General Manager.
Members from the state Attorney General's office and the Deputy Secretary of PennDOT, Jennie Louwerse, attended the meeting.
She issued this statement to WNEP:
"We at PennDOT are in full support of this authority. The mayor and city council have been in direct communication with the department on this matter. We look forward to the formation of the River Valley Transit Authority in July. We believe this is the best option for the city and the employees at River Valley Transit."
It is still unclear if the city will have to repay PennDOT for any misused funds. Members of the new transportation authority will soon be appointed.
"I will bring five names before city council, and then they will make the ultimate decision whether or not to improve those individuals for the board," Mayor Slaughter explained.
Mayor Derek Slaughter also told Newswatch 16 that the decision to create a transit authority was made on a local level. The city was not forced to do this by any state or federal organization.
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