SB 1 plans
move forward, but opposition remains
EL CENTRO — Last week, the State’s Transportation Commission adopted a list of active transportation projects it plans to accomplish through funding from the Senate Bill 1, which will raise the gas tax in California this November.
In general, the projects list includes $1.34 billion in funding over the course of the next three years to perform needed highway repairs and a Trade Corridor Enhancement Program which will upgrade the freight transportation system through California.
“Freight is the economy in motion. Goods movement generates about a third of California’s $2.2 trillion economy and more than 5 million jobs are in freight-dependent industries,” said Commissioner Fran Inman in a statement.
Senate Bill 1 invests approximately $54 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways, and bridges and allocates more dollars toward transit and safety.
Other decisions made by the commission include:
Adopting guidelines for the distribution of $500 million through SB 1’s Local Partnership Program. This program provides funding to cities, counties and a handful of transit agencies that have passed a tax solely committed to transportation funding. There is a formulaic program based on population and revenue and a competitive grant program. Project applications for such program grants are due Dec. 15, 2017, while applications for competitive grants are due Jan. 30, 2018.
Approving $846 million to accelerate 90 new projects from the 2018 State Highway Operation and Protection Program. These projects are being accelerated due to the funding that will soon be available from the passage of SB 1 and emphasize the state’s commitment to using SB 1 funding to strengthen California’s critical transportation infrastructure.
Committing $117 million for 63 projects in the Active Transportation Program, encouraging motorists to get out of their vehicles and use active alternatives to reduce noise and air pollution, promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Amending the Commission’s existing Local Streets and Roads Annual Reporting Guidelines to reflect recent changes in statutes. This program makes available an estimated $1.5 billion to every city and county in California for local road repairs and improvements, essentially doubling the amount of state funding flowing to locals prior to SB 1.
Repeal efforts
Since the passing of Senate Bill 1 through the state’s legislature earlier this year, some state Republicans have now begun pursuing different avenues to repeal the gas tax.
Huntington Beach Assemblyman and Republican candidate for state Gov. Travis Allen is currently focused on collecting signatures from state voters that could potentially allow the repeal of the gas tax to appear on the state’s ballot next year.
In order to make it a reality, Allen would need to collect 365,880 valid signatures from registered voters. Those behind the efforts to repeal the tax say they feel it can get done because they believe voters would oppose the tax if they knew the funding is only for repairs and not for additional expansion in freeways and roads.
In addition to Allen’s efforts, former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio has a separate but similar proposal, however he wants to go a step further and set a constitutional amendment in place that would not only take the proposal to repeal the gas tax, but would also prevent the state legislature from enacting any new tax without voter approval.
Local impact
The funding that is expected to come through SB1 has been well-received by local officials. Last month, County Public Works Director John Gay presented his department’s road-rehabilitation plan for next year.
The plan includes 30 repairs, which cover more than 21 miles of roads throughout the county, for which the county is projected to invest $4 million. A total of $2.6 million or 65 percent of that would come from SB 1.
“We’re trying to have as much coverage as we can, we’re doing skin patches mainly on rural roads, helping transit agricultural areas, that is part of the program this year,” Gay said during the Sept. 13 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Abraham Campos, an engineer for El Centro Public Works Department stated that the funding the gas tax will generate is necessary to maintain the city’s streets toward better conditions.
“The gas tax as approved will provide the necessary funding to greatly reduce the rate at which our streets fall into disrepair,” he said. “Without it, streets will get worse and require more costly repairs in the future that could have been prevented at a lower cost today through properly funded maintenance activities.”
SB 1 was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in April. The new gas tax is expected to allow Caltrans to make major repairs, including 17,000 miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts over the next 10 years.
The package will also fund local street and road repairs, as well as dramatically increase public transit funding.
It will do this by raising the base excise gas tax 12 cents per gallon, bringing it to 30 cents, starting Nov. 1. The excise tax on diesel fuel will increase to 36 cents per gallon.
Starting next year, the measure adds an annual vehicle fee ranging from $25 for cars valued at under $5,000 to $175 for cars worth $60,000 or more. Electric car owners will begin paying a $100 annual fee in lieu of gas taxes starting in 2020.