HAMMOND | The city's bus service was put on life support Monday as the City Council passed its 2009 municipal budget.

Several issues had divided the council during its budget talks, perhaps most prominently continuing the city's transit service.

Shortly into the start of Monday's meeting, council President Dan Repay relinquished his seat to Vice President Anthony Higgs. Repay swiftly moved to "zero out" the Transit Department's budget with a caveat presented by Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr.

Partly out of sympathy with those who need it, McDermott proposed throwing a temporary lifeline to the bus service.

Under the plan, the mayor said casino dollars, to be taken off the top of casino revenues and shared by himself and the council, would support bus service until July 1.

The bus service basically will be going on a diet, which included reducing routes, McDermott said.

In what he described as a compromise measure, McDermott said the agreement is intended to send a strong signal the city is getting out of the bus business.

The plan tells the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority and the Regional Bus Authority they have nine months from Monday to create a regional route to serve Hammond before local service expires.

Repay said July 1 was chosen because whatever proposals the General Assembly passes in January will not become effective until then. Hopefully the regional service would pick up as the local service ends, he said.

The plan devised between McDermott and Repay came as a shock to Transit Director Keith Matasovsky, who did not attend Monday's meeting.

"I really thought what I had proposed was going to be accepted," he said.

Matasovsky had laid out a plan to maintain service for another year to give the RBA time to work out funding.

His lifeline would have dropped one route, redesigned another and eliminated all service on Saturdays after raising fares by 75 cents.

It was unclear Monday what changes might take place under the city's compromise plan.