Palmetto Breeze reports rising ridership but a $360,000 fiscal shortfall; service cuts possible

Juan Sheldon, representing Palmetto Breeze, told the Beaufort County panel on Aug. 18 that the transit operator is seeing its strongest seasonal commuter ridership in about four years but is facing a fiscal‑2026 budget gap staff reduced to roughly $360,000.

"We presented a budget that brought that deficit down to $360,000," Sheldon said, adding that staff will present options to the Palmetto Breeze board at a special called meeting. He warned that if local match funding cannot be identified the authority may need to discuss service reductions.

Sheldon highlighted uneven demand across service types: fixed-route commuter ridership is strong while demand-response and coordinated services are oversubscribed. Palmetto Breeze is prioritizing medical trips first, then grocery, then work trips on demand-response services. He also previewed a USCB Sand Shark Shuttle pilot with late‑night return trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays and noted slow but steady improvement in weekday routes.

On operations, Sheldon said the authority is prepared for hurricane season, held a multi‑day emergency drill, and maintains strong safety performance. He also said recruiting and retaining skilled mechanics is a challenge given local housing costs despite two recent wage increases; the authority plans to pursue insourcing of maintenance where feasible and will continue seeking local partners for capital match to buy vehicles for service expansion.

Council members requested ridership and trip counts by route and month; Sheldon offered to provide monthly data at least through July and noted that Palmetto Breeze tracks roughly 220,000 total trips annually across all services as a typical total.

The committee did not vote on transit funding; Sheldon said the board will act on budget adjustments in the coming weeks.