STAFF REPORT - CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY/PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY

Staff recommends approval of Resolution 4107, adopting the Fresno Council of Governments (COG) approved Expenditure Plan and Implementing Guidelines.

On August 7, 2019, the Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA) Board authorized its staff to begin the process of seeking to renew Measure C with a target of placing the Measure on the November 2022 ballot. Included in this authorization was direction to establish an Executive Committee (EC) and a Technical Working Group (TWG) to develop a draft expenditure plan for presentation to the FCTA Board for final approval.

FCTA staff began contacting the various public and private sector organizations to ask for volunteers to join these two committees. With rare exception, staff did not contact specific individuals but worked though agencies and organizations to identify who would serve on the two committees.

In March of 2020, the COVID epidemic hit the United States. Threat of exposure precluded FCTA and Fresno Council of Governments (Fresno COG) staff from scheduling meetings of these committees for approximately 11 months. During that time period society adapted to meeting in a virtual environment and as a result, the first meetings of these two groups were held virtually in January and February of 2021.

Simultaneous with this effort, the Fresno COG was in the process of updating and adopting their Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS). The RTP/SCS is the 20-year transportation planning document for Fresno County, while Measure C is part of how the RTP/SCS plan is implemented. As a result, the RTP/SCS became the framework for Measure C renewal.

The two committees spent much of their early meetings discussing membership and listening to background information about the Original Measure C adopted in 1986, the Measure C Extension adopted in 2006, and developing guiding principles for a potential third measure (MC3). Membership and process discussions consumed much of the committees’ time in the initial months, particularly within the EC.

Fresno COG held a number of community meetings where the RTP/SCS was discussed, and public input sought over a year’s time. Measure C staff and consultants participated in these RTP meetings with discussions about what the public viewed as the highest priorities for a renewed Measure C.

In March of 2021, FCTA staff commissioned a public opinion poll to determine what County residents thought were the most pressing transportation issues, and whether or not they would support a second extension of Measure C. The results of that poll were shared with the FCTA Board and the two committees. The polling indicated very high support for renewing Measure C (80%), and that fixing local roads was clearly the highest priority, also at 80%.

In October 2021, FCTA conducted a series of in-person and online public forums specific to Measure C renewal. They made short presentations while the majority of the time was spent listening to members of the public discuss what they thought were the highest priorities for a third Measure C. Simultaneously, FCTA also launched an online survey for the purpose of gathering similar data. To date staff has received 2,804 responses with very similar results. FCTA staff and consultants also conducted in person door to door contacts with residents in Cantua Creek, Lenare, Tranquility, Orange Cove, Parlier, Kerman, Mendota, Caruthers, Coalinga, Del Rey, Five Points, Huron, Sanger, Kingsburg, and San Joaquin. Approximately 1,070 surveys were completed by Spanish speakers. The public meetings, online surveys, and in-person contacts all conveyed the same basic messages as the polling; fixing roads was the number one priority.

Beginning with the needs assessment performed by Fresno COG through the RTP/SCS process, thier began drafting alternative proposals for Measure C 3 funding. Four alternatives were initially presented to the TWG. Of these four, two had a significant level of support within the TWG. These two alternatives were later refined by the TWG.

During this process FCTA and Fresno COG staff also met with representatives from Fresno County, the City of Fresno and the City of Clovis to discuss the framework of the preferred alternatives the TWG was considering. While by no means diminishing the importance of the small cities, it was felt that Fresno, Clovis, and Fresno County support of a proposed plan was critical in order to obtain its eventual endorsement by both the TWG and EC. Based upon these meetings, modifications were made to the preferred alternative then being considered by the TWG. These modifications increased the Transit and Local Control subprograms. Specifically, the increase in the Local Control Program was intended to allow each agency to best tailor their Measure C expenditures to their unique and specific needs. This flexibility was especially critical for the City of Fresno who wanted to use some of their Local Control Program money to further increase funds dedicated to public transit.

The TWG considered and approved this allocation plan by a substantial majority. This approved plan was then sent to the EC for their consideration.

The EC also considered and approved the plan as submitted by the TWG. During this consideration and approval process, a second series of public meetings were conducted to once again listen to people’s concerns about transportation in Fresno County. A second opinion poll was also conducted resulting in nearly identical results from the first poll.

Once the EC adopted the draft allocation plan, staff used the proposed allocation plan as adopted by the EC and TWG, to develop a detailed draft Expenditure Plan and a set of Implementing Guidelines. The Expenditure Plan was posted for public review on May 27, 2022, and the Implementing Guidelines were posted about a week later. Staff received a number of written and verbal comments on the plan and guidelines. Many of the suggested revisions were incorporated while some were not. Comments not included in the plan tended to be in conflict with the allocation plan adopted by the EC and TWG. The public comment period closed on June -27, 2022 and a final draft revision of the draft plan and guidelines was posted on June 29, 2022.

The plan was to be presented to the Fresno Council of Governments Policy Board for their approval, which was then to be followed by presentation to the FCTA Board for their proposed adoption. Fresno COG was scheduled to consider the plan on June 30, 2022 with FCTA following on July 20. The June 30, 2022 meeting of Fresno COG was ultimately cancelled due to technical difficulties and was rescheduled for July 7, 2022.

CITY OF FRESNO PROPOSAL

In mid-June, FCTA and Fresno COG staff made a presentation to the Fresno City Council on the EC/TWG approved plan. Shortly after that presentation, staff was made aware that the City of Fresno would not support the EC/TWG Plan as currently written. Through a series of meetings, the last one held on the morning of June 30, 2022 – a few hours before Fresno COG was to consider adoption of the EC/TWG plan – FCTA and Fresno COG staff agreed that the substantially revised proposal submitted by the City (that morning) had merit as it closely followed the EC/TWG plan with a few minor revisions. These revisions included:

1.       Allowing sidewalk repairs to be funded through the Local Neighborhood and Street Repair and Maintenance Program (Street Repair Program)

2.       Revising the distribution of these street repairs funds from 75% population – 25% road miles to 80% -- 20% (later revised to 78% -- 22%)

3.       Revise the distribution of the Local Control Program funds to 100% population based

4.       Establish an annual $100,000 minimum allocation within the Street Repair Program for each of the 16 agencies in Fresno County

5.       Change a few of the projects included in the City of Fresno’s portion of the Tier 1 Major Roads and Highway Program

6.       Limit Urban Transit Oriented Development (TOD) funding to certain high-density and transit corridor requirements

7.       Include local hiring preference language

The end result of these changes was that each of the 15 cities in Fresno County would get slightly more funding (approximately 5% to 20% with the smallest cities experiencing the largest percentage increase) while Fresno County would receive about $187 million less over the life of the Measure.

After considerable public and Board discussion, the Fresno COG Policy Board approved the EC/TWG plan as modified by the City of Fresno.

On July 12, 2022, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors also considered the plan adopted by Fresno COG. All Board members expressed concern with the lower Fresno County allocation and with the last-minute changes requested by the City of Fresno; however, after much discussion the Board adopted the plan as previously approved by Fresno COG.

APPROVED PLAN

With these approvals in place, Fresno COG has requested that each jurisdiction consider adoption of the plan approved by the Fresno COG Policy Board. A full copy of both the Expenditure Plan and Implementing Guidelines are included in this Board package. In summary, the approved plan provides total projected revenue over 30 years of $6,835,044,756 or approximately $7 Billion.

Distribution by Sub-Program

Distribution by Agency (as modified by the City of Fresno proposal)

In addition, the other changes proposed by the City of Fresno were incorporated into the Expenditure Plan and Implementing Guidelines except for the revised TOD criteria, which must still be developed by Fresno, Clovis, and Fresno COG staff. This revised criterial will be included in the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) to be developed. Specific language on local hiring preferences will also need to be developed and included in the SIP.

CONCLUSION:

The overall transportation needs in Fresno County exceed the revenues that can be generated through a ½ cent sales tax. However, this plan makes substantial progress towards meeting a high percentage of these needs. Specifically, this plan will:

• Allow the entire county to fix potholes and repair streets, reaching an average Pavement Condition Index of 70, which is within the “Good” category, thus reducing future maintenance costs, decreasing user costs, improving safety for vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians, and improving air quality
• Dedicates funds to disadvantaged communities and areas, including a $100,000 minimum allocation, which will help the smaller cities in the County, and dedication of no less than 30% of the street repair funds to disadvantaged areas
• Provides over $1 billion in Local Control sub program funding so that each agency can best meet their transportation needs. This could include additional road repairs, enhanced transit funding, additional Active transportation projects, or any other eligible transportation facility or service
• Provides over $800 million to the three transit agencies in Fresno County; an increase of 180% over the current transit allocation
• In conjunction with other identified funding sources, meets 95% of the overall active transportation need established through the 2022 RTP/SCS process
• Helps address safety issues and congestion choke points on the urban and rural highways and major road systems
• Dedicates $144 million specifically for environmental enhancements beyond those specifically included in the other subprograms
• Collectively will improve pavement, improve safety, reduce congestion, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with the RTP/SCS

This plan will be beneficial for Fresno County as a whole and good for each and every city within Fresno County.