Texoma Area Paratransit System (TAPS) fixed routes within the city of McKinney will no longer be offered beginning Monday.

During a regularly scheduled board of directors meeting in Sherman, Friday, board members voted for a significant reduction of service allowing for emergency medical on-demand rides only across its entire service area.

On-demand services will not run without a cap however, and will be limited to roughly 170 trips per day with a daily operating cost of a little more than $5,200.

Other services provided to what officials called "cash-neutral" customers will still continue, since those are fully funded by those customers, which include on-demand routes in Murphy, Fairview, Frisco and Wylie. Fixed route service in Allen will also continue.

The cuts follow this week's announcement that the state pulled TAPS' Medicaid contract because of an ongoing criminal investigation into the agency—namely its former executive director Brad Underwood, said Collin County Commissioner and TAPS board chairman Chris Hill.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments also announced this week that it would slow reimbursements because of the investigation.

This morning, TAPS board members learned that $470,000 had been seized by Landmark Bank—money the organization had hoped to use to pay last week's remaining partial payroll and this weeks full payroll.

On Monday, NCTCOG plans to send two individuals to assist TAPS staffers in finding and submitting receipts for reimbursements. The board agreed that there was no way to know just how many funds could be recovered or how many weeks the process could take.
For McKinney, a discussion regarding public transit will take place during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 222 N. Tennessee St.