Two small Polk County communities may soon lose their access to public transportation due to city leaders balking at demands for more funding from the bus service.

  • Eagle Lake currently pays $5,000 per year
  • Change would increase cost to $22,000
  • Some city commissioners unwilling to pay extra funds

Citrus Connection is asking cities in east Polk to pay at least 20 percent of the annual cost of service within the next three years.

For Eagle Lake, that would mean going from paying just $5,000 a year to about $22,000.

"Historically, the county has been footing the bill for it," said Citrus Connection Community Relations Director Erin Killebrew. "But now we are trying to bring everybody to 20 percent over the next three years."

Several Eagle Lake city commissioners who we spoke to said they were not willing to pay the extra money.  If the city doesn’t agree to provide the extra funding, service could be cut this fall.

That would have a major impact on residents like 80-year-old Joan Koch, who rides Citrus Connection buses to go shopping. "Oh, probably I would be moving to someplace else,” she said.

City commissioners in Frostproof have also expressed doubts about providing more money to Citrus Connection, so bus service to that city could also be cut.

The transit board will vote Sept. 13 whether to cut service to the cities. But in some cases, that won't mean buses won't go near the areas

"We just won't stop,” said Killebrew.  “In the case of Eagle Lake, we will drive through on (Highway) 17."