The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's financial task force issued its recommendations on Wednesday for how to prioritize and fund countywide transit services.

The new budget model endorsed by the financial task force estimates $161.5 million in operating expenses and $56.1 million in capital costs over five years.

To help pay for that, the report recommends coming up with a combination of revenue equal to a 0.5-mill countywide tax and a 50-cent average increase in ridership fares.

Fares on AATA's fixed-route buses are currently set at $1.50, with half-price discounts for students, children, seniors and people with disabilities.

"Any discussion of a fare increase is not taken lightly, however, so we will be reviewing these recommendations very carefully," AATA CEO Michael Ford said in a statement.

AnnArbor.com requested and obtained digital copies of all documents handed out at Wednesday's task force meeting and is making them available for download here:

• Capital budget
• Task force report
• Operating budget
• Financial performance of services
• Budget summary
• Letter from Albert Berriz
• Letter from Bob Guenzel
• Subgroup report overview
• Findings and recommendations

To reduce the financial impact of expanding countywide transit services, the task force eliminated all local dollars for long-term regional transportation projects such as rail. It recommends only state, federal or private dollars be used for those services.

The task force's recommendations will be analyzed by AATA staff and given to the current AATA board and an unincorporated Act 196 authority board, which is charged with developing the organizational framework for countywide transit service.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.