Borrowing a phrase from Gov. Mitch Daniels' repertoire, without some "major moves" by the state, the last day of business for the largest demand bus service in Lake County will be Jan. 30. "I have to deal with the facts," Gary Olund, executive director of Northwest Indiana Community Action, said of the agency's fiscal plight.

NWICA offers curb-to-curb bus service to senior citizens, the disabled, the chronically ill and low-income residents needing transportation to their jobs.

NWICA's green buses are a familiar sight throughout the county. The demand-response service is not confined by geographic boundaries as are the fixed-route services provided by the municipal transit companies.

Olund said he has been relying mostly on balances from community service block grants, which he was able to carry over from year to year, to subsidize NWICA's service. The money subsidized the service to the tune of $1 million over these last two years as contributions from the cities of Gary and Hammond dried up.

Now the wellspring from the block grants also has run out, Olund said.

Word that the service would cease in less than three months and in the middle of winter has jarred clients and left them wondering what they're going to do, Olund said. "It's something they've come to rely on. That's why we've committed the money the last two years."

"I can't do it any longer," he said.

Olund said prior to 2007, the largest contributor to NWICA's program by far had been the city of Gary at an annual contribution of $350,000. Aware of the property tax pressures on the city, Olund lowered his request to $250,000 in 2007. Though the city agreed to the $250,000, it ultimately failed to honor the commitment. The same year Olund requested his usual $50,000 from the city of Hammond, but Hammond also failed to come up with the money.

Only the city of East Chicago fulfilled Olund's 2007 request of $45,000 as it did his 2008 request. Gary came up with $50,000 for the third quarter of 2008. Hammond again contributed nothing.

"My estimation is this is not a position (the mayors) want to take, but their financial situations are making them take," Olund said.

At the county level, Olund said Lake County government is keeping up with its typical annual $50,000 contribution though he usually requests twice that. In addition, the demand service receives support from state and federal sources and dollars earmarked for the services to the aged.

Calls to the offices of Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and East Chicago Mayor George Pabey were not returned last week, but Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. confirmed his city has not contributed to the service in two years. This fall, Hammond also opted to discontinue its own municipal fixed-route service by July 1.

"These are the kinds of sacrifices that have to be made to abide by (House Bill) 1001," McDermott said, citing the pressure from the state to roll back property taxes.

Lake County Councilwoman Elsie Franklin, who represents Gary on the County Council and also serves as secretary on NWICA's board of directors, said, "We're very, very concerned about this."

The decision will greatly affect the ability of senior citizens and the handicapped to get to the doctor or the grocery store, she said.

Franklin said she has been in contact with Clay and will be urging a meeting of the NWICA board before the first public hearing on the issue Dec. 11.