The state’s formula for distributing money for public transit programs is “not equitable at all for Topeka,” City Councilman Larry Wolgast told members of Shawnee County’s legislative delegation Tuesday.

Wolgast urged legislators to work during the upcoming session to address that.

“We are tremendously disadvantaged,” he said.

Wolgast spoke during a six-hour, 20-minute meeting at the Statehouse in which the legislative delegation heard requests from representatives of 17 different entities. Those included Washburn University, local school districts, Shawnee County and the city of Topeka.

Topeka’s city council last week approved a 2010 legislative agenda that included requests that local lawmakers:

• Seek to continue the operation of the Kansas Neurological Institute, which a state commission has recommended closing.

• Support continued development of the Capitol complex and state operations in downtown Topeka.

• Seek enhanced state funding for the financially strapped Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Whitney Damron, a lobbyist who works under contract for the city, had been scheduled to speak to the legislative delegation about the city’s agenda at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Council members Wolgast and Karen Hiller arrived shortly before then to learn Damron had already made his presentation.

Though Wolgast and Hiller weren’t scheduled to speak, the legislators asked if they had anything to say.

Wolgast responded by stressing the importance of making the state’s funding formula more equitable for TMTA. He said the city next year will again face money issues regarding the transit system.

The council last August sought to help TMTA cope with its financial problems by raising the annual property tax mill levy the transit service assesses from 3 mills this year to 4.4 mills for next year. The 1.4 mills amounts to an increase of $16.10 annually in the TMTA property tax assessment for the owner of a $100,000 house.

The county legislative delegation also heard Tuesday from Shawnee County Commission Chairman Vic Miller, who was accompanied by Commissioner Ted Ensley.

Miller recalled that the county prior to last year’s legislative session had asked local legislators to work to arrange for the county to be reimbursed for motor fuel tax revenue the state had shorted it over the previous nine years.

He thanked the Shawnee County delegation Tuesday for convincing the state earlier this year to reimburse about $3.3 million in motor fuel tax revenue the county had been shorted over the prior three years.

But Miller expressed concern about a proposal through which state prison inmates serving the last parts of their sentences would be housed in county jails instead of state prisons, meaning the counties — instead of the state — would absorb the costs. He asked legislators during the upcoming session to avoid shifting any costs currently borne by the state to local governmental entities.

Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, told fellow members of the county delegation near the end of Tuesday’s meeting that she planned to pursue some sort of legislation during the session regarding K2, a smokable legal herb that users say mimics the high of marijuana.

Schmidt provided her fellow legislators a copy of an article about K2 published last month in the University Daily Kansan, the student newspaper at The University of Kansas. The article said researchers are concerned about the drug because its toxicity and long-term effects aren’t known.

The Topeka Transit is facing a budget crisis that will soon limit their bus services and routes.

The board had originally planned to cut evening and Sunday bus services this Wednesday, but that was postponed until Memorial Day weekend.

“If the night and evening service is cut I will not have the funds to put groceries on the table, pay my rent, pay other bills,” Kim Richmond explained to the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority Board Monday.

Kim Richmond stated her case before the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority board Monday, the same way she did at last Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Kim depends on the bus to get to and from work, and she’s worried what will happen if services are cut.

“It will be a six hour walk from work to home because I am not going to be able to afford to spend 25 dollars a night on cab ride,” said Richmond.

And Kim’s not the only one worried about service cuts. A handful of her workmates also depend on the Topeka Metro Transit Authority to get to and from work at Golden Corral on Wanamaker.

“I’ve already tried to make plans on finding another ride but its going to cost a lot more and I really can’t afford it so transit is the best thing for me,” said Chris Frazier, cook at Golden Corral.

“That’s how they get to work or home from work late at night especially,” said Kenneth Geib, manager.

The transit board did motion to extend evening and Sunday services through Memorial Day, but workers wonder what will happen after that.

“We’ll be discontinuing unless we receive some help on the 25th of May,” said Neta Jeffus, TMTA.

“This will have a direct impact on their job, whether they can keep their job or whether they’ll lose their job,” said Richmond.

“They’re not going to be able to keep their schedule or hold their job,” said Geib.

Kim says she’s happy services will continue longer than originally planned, but come Memorial Day weekend, she says the city’s in for a shock.

“This is going to have a severe economic impact on Topeka I don’t know what more I can do,” said Richmond.

Right now Kim pays $3.50 to take the bus home from her job at Golden Corral, when the bus services end, Kim says that same ride will cost her more than $20 in a taxi cab, and that’s her only alternative.

“I only make $2.13 an hour plus tips that could be my entire evening’s wages just to get home and I can’t afford $25 a night for a cab and I certainly don’t have the money for a car, unless somebody wants to give me on and I don’t see that happening,” said Richmond.

“Transportation is the backbone of a community and I think Topeka is a little slow recognizing that,” said Jeffus.

The transit board wants the city to help pay for bus services.

“We are here we are viable, and many people use and rely on us,” Jeffus said.

More than a dozen people were at the Monday meeting, many of whom are disabled.

They say they will continue to voice their concerns until the city steps in to keep the services running.