CAT SPLOST, Federal Funds in Question

Aug. 31, 2025 (update) – On Aug. 26, the CAT board approved a capital budget for fiscal-year 2026 that is almost $4.9 million less than the previous capital budget. The decrease in expected revenue and planned expenses comes due to questions about federal funding and after Chatham County’s reduction of the transit agency’s property tax rate for this fiscal year, amounting to a loss of about $1.9 million in revenue. There is also no funding for CAT in the agreement recently approved by the Chatham County Commission ahead of the planned Nov. 4 referendum to continue the 1-percent sales tax. The funding omission comes after interim Executive Director Stephanie Cutter’s request in May for SPLOST 8 funding she said is crucial for vehicle replacements and other capital needs.

Aug. 5, 2025 (original story) – Chatham Area Transit officials are facing questions about continued funding traditionally received via the federal government, as well as local voter approved sales-tax revenue, amid a continuing feud with Chatham County regarding the composition of the transit agency’s board.

The concerns about federal funding led the commission to postpone for 30 days the adoption of the 2025-2026 fiscal-year budget’s capital spending plan last week. In addition, staff and board members voiced concerns about whether CAT can continue to rely on receiving Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) revenue, often used as the local match for federal and state grant programs for the acquisition of vehicles and equipment.

Unlike the current SPLOST distribution intergovernmental agreement reached in 2020, which included $10 million for CAT, there is no funding specifically listed for the agency in the agreement recently approved by the Chatham County Commission ahead of the planned Nov. 4 referendum to continue the 1-percent sales tax.

That is despite interim Executive Director Stephanie Cutter’s request for SPLOST 8 funding for CAT in a May 22 letter to County Manager Michael Kaigler, stating the funding is crucial for CAT to fund vehicle replacements and other capital needs. As of Aug. 4, the county has not informed CAT of any approved funds within the proposed SPLOST 8 referendum, according to a CAT spokesperson.

At the end of last week’s meeting, interim Cutter encouraged the CAT board to advocate for SPLOST 8, as did CAT board member Bert Brantley, who also serves as the president and CEO of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.

Brantley said the SPLOST funds allow CAT to “punch above” its weight class by helping to secure grants with matching funds.

“The taxpayers certainly paying much less than what they would without those grant opportunities and a zero out of SPLOST is just as devastating as reducing the millage by half,” he said. “It is simply something that we can allow to happen.”

Savannah Agenda reached out on Wednesday to Chatham County’s media contacts to obtain a response to CAT’s SPLOST concerns and this article will be updated if any information is provided.

The concerns about SPLOST come after Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis recently proposed cutting CAT’s millage rate by half – a reduction of about $9 million in property tax revenue. After some discussion about the potential impact on services, the commission instead voted to reduce the millage rate to a rate that instead amounted to an almost $2 million reduction, as previously reported.

Still, the adopted millage rate that was lower than the flat rate that CAT requested, requiring staff to make some last-minute spending reductions to the new fiscal-year budget to cover the shortfall. Staff focused on expenses that would not impact operations and ended up making cuts to its contingency fund and self-insurance fund, as reported by Savannah Morning News.

The funding concerns come as Chatham County challenges the CAT board’s existence following its recent formation via state legislation that dissolved the previous board, which gave the county more control over the agency. The county is now appealing a Chatham County Judge’s dismissal of its lawsuit challenging the legislation behind the board’s reorganization.

Following the county commission’s vote, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson called for the restoration of the flat millage rate CAT had sought. In his July 28 letter to Ellis and the commissioners, Johnson said that the $1.9 million decrease would have “significant and far-reaching impacts on our public transportation system and, most importantly, on the residents who rely on it daily.” Johnson also refuted claims Savannah was not supporting CAT during his weekly press conference Tuesday.

There are also uncertainties concerning federal funding, according to officials. A recent US Senate measure provides $16.9 billion for FTA programs — an increase of $203.3 million over current levels — while a House bill would reduce FTA funding slightly to $14.9 billion, according to a July 25 report from CAT’s lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs.

Lobbyist, Jack Kingston, told the board on Tuesday that CAT would not be getting its “earmark” funding this year, which he said was “squeezed” out by other priorities.

“One of the problems that they have quite frankly is when they see Chatham County, they are competing against the trade center or they’re competing against beach renourishment,” Kingston said. “They’re competing even for Hunter Army Airfield. And so making sure we’re in their top list to sometimes a balance of that.”

At some point a millage increase will be necessary to sustain a transportation system that provides convenient and dependable transportation and meets community needs, according to the approved 2025-2026 fiscal-year budget.

Meanwhile, CAT’s board voted last week to amend two federal grant applications to “better address immediate operational needs,” as delays in EV deliveries and limits on charging infrastructure have made vehicles unavailable for service.

Awarded in 2022 and 2024, almost $13.4 million in Low or No Emissions (Lo-No) grant funding will now go towards the purchase of 18 diesel powered buses rather than 10 electric buses and six chargers. Those grants require local matches, which are typically covered by SPLOST revenue.

Editor’s note: This article was updated Aug. 5 to reflect the information SPLOST request letter provided by CAT spokesperson.

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