Travis County Commissioners Court
August 25, 2009,
Item 26
26 is to receive briefing from staff on the low income vehicle repair and replacement program.
morning.
>> good morning.
i'm here today to make the court aware of an situation in which tceq is reducing our budget by almost 50% for the fy 2010 starting September the 1st.
at first this sounds like a huge problem because our budget is going to be reduced by 50%, but after analyzing the numbers this is plen toy to cover -- plenty to cover our administrative costs and our repairs and replacement.
we do approximately $1.8 million of repairs and replacements per year and our salaries are 182,000.
so we're receiving 210 for administrative services, which is plenty to cover salaries and supplies.
now, the reason tceq is reducing our funding is because we only need two dollars into the pool of money, whereas dallas and the houston areas put in six.
and in the past we've been receiving the exact same percentage as the other counties, as houston and dallas.
so now we're just -- they're reducing our share because we don't put into as much fund.
>> and why do they put in more money than we?
>> they do a more expensive test called abbreviated asm.
it costs $45,000 per piece of equipment.
here we only do the on board diagnostic generation 2 test, which costs $12,000 for the equipment.
the asm 2 deft is usually used -- test is usually used for the '95 cars and older.
we anticipate that through this program the '95 cars and older are slowly being done away with.
and also, asm 2 tests for nocs.
it's a requirement because the houston and galveston areas are non-attainment.
so they have to test for noks to make sure that these cars are not emitting too much.
since Travis County and Williamson county are not non-attainment, at least not yet, we don't have to test for nox.
>> okay.
mr.
webber?
>> I have nothing to add.
i'm here in case you had other questions.
>> okay.
court members?
>> I have a couple of questions.
dallas I think is also in that same scenario as the houston, galveston area?
>> that is correct.
>> my whole point on that -- they probably had to pay the same amount of money for the testing equipment when you go and get the inspection and stuff like that.
i'm assuming that they had to pay the same amount of money for that testing equipment as the other non-attainment situations that you mentioned earlier.
in other words, they did not -- why?
why do they make a distinction between the two?
>> the dallas and houston areas pay $38.75 for their inspections.
travis and Williamson counties pay $28.75.
in houston and galveston it is a more expensive test.
>> and there's a backlog in those areas also as far as, well -- well, as far as people needing your assistance.
and I'm just wondering here with the program that we have for the low income program that we have here now, repair, program we have now in Travis County, is there a backlog at this point for people -- for persons that qualify and aren't able to get assistance because of the money situation?
>> we do have a backlog of a little bit over 200 applications that are waiting to be processed for replacements.
our staff processes repairs first because there's a time limit on that.
and then they move forward with replacements.
the reason we have a backlog is because twice within the past four months or three months, tceq has delayed our funding and we have run out of funds and without the funds we cannot administer the program.
eventually we have been granted our funds, but we still have the backlog, which I can't praise staff enough for working diligently in getting that.
since may we have received -- before may we were receiving approximately 75 to 100 applications per month.
since may we're receiving over 300 per month.
>> per month?
goodness, that's a bunch.
okay.
that was my final question.
i just wanted to check on the backlog and the availability of funds to look at the replacement cost, the replacement and also the repair costs.
the replacement cost is basically still entrenched and also the cost to do the repair, they're still stable at what they are.
there hasn't been a change in that.
>> no, sir, there hasn't.
>>
>> they're stable and locked?
>> any other questions from the court?
>> there has been a backlog because of delay in funding.
do we generally have a backlog with the kind of applications we have right now and what is the maximum that we can -- number of applications we can deal with within a month?
>> we generally do not have a backlog, but thanks to the cars program, there has been arn increased interest in the program because applicants could have combined both programs and received 700:70:00 or 7,000 five hundred for the price of a car.
and you're asking me how many applications we receive in a month --
>> no, how many we are able to process.
there's probably a human factor element in there.
>> currently when we did have the funds and we were having -- our staff was processing over 100 per week.
>> wow.
>> is the delayed funding from tceq likely to be a recurring problem?
>> no, it will not be.
starting in September, which is different than they have in the past, they've waited for us to request the funds, then they send them to us.
now in September we will receive the entire lump sum.
and any interest that we earn off of these funds are used for vehicle repair and replacements.
>> that's great.
>> good.
>> so let's not criticize the state yet, right.
mr.
reeferseed?
>> thank you.
ronnie reeferseed.
anyway, my question is about -- I'm driving an eight-year-old clunker myself and being of low income, I'm curious about the details of contact information to get in on your program somehow.
>> it's very easy to contact our program.
you can go to one of two different websites.
the easiest website to remember is www.drive acleanmachine.com.
from there you can click on to Travis County, there's a link that takes you directly to our website.
our website you can get to it directly by going to traviscountytx.gov/airquality.
and that website contains all the information for dealers on how to sign up and for applicants to sign up.
we even have access where applicants can sign up by e-mail, doing everything by pdfing it.
>> can you say that again?
>> that is correct.
>> thank you so much.
>> also, there's a phone number that I always ask for those persons that do not have access to the technology world, there has to be a phone number that's available also for those persons who are interested in the program.
>> that is correct.
there is a 1-800-number, and off the top of my head I don't want to repeat it because I'm afraid I will give out the wrong one.
>> okay.
what's the number at facilities?
he can call transportation and natural resources, right?
what's that number?
>> or they can call me directly, they can just call me directly at 854-7211.
>> 854---
>> 7211.
>> thank you.
>> thanks for the briefing.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:07 PM
