Title:
Title
Comments on Measure A Decennial Review
End
FileID
File ID: 2020-01499
Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation:
Recommendation
Pass a Motion authorizing the Director of Public Works to sign and submit the attached comments to the Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) on the Measure A Decennial Review.
.FileName
Contact: Lucinda Willcox, Program Manager, (916) 808-5052; Ryan Moore, Director of Public Works, (916) 808-6629, Department of Public Works.
Body
Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Letter to STA Board
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) is conducting a decennial review of the Measure A program to determine if any amendments are needed to reflect changing transportation conditions.
Measure A sales tax is a critical part of countywide transportation needs. As identified through the process whereby a supplemental Measure A sales tax was considered last year, existing Measure A revenues are not sufficient to meet countywide transportation needs, and major changes to the existing program would take funding from critically needed areas. As a result, staff does not recommend major changes to the program; however, there are some areas that could be amended to better serve regional and citywide needs.
§ Provide $2 million toward exploration of formation of a governance and management structure (e.g., Joint Powers Authority) to oversee the Intermodal Station. While the property is located in the city limits, the Sacramento Valley Station, as the 8th busiest station in the nation, serves the larger region and is critical to intercity travel. The City was able to take the lead through the use of Measure A capital funds to leverage significant state and federal funds, purchase the property, realign and improve passenger tracks, and renovate the historic train station. Since the City is not a transit agency and does not have direct access to transit or rail funding, the City will not be able to continue to support the next stages of its development as no additional Measure A capital funding is remaining in the program. A structure made up of the City with regional partners would be positioned to manage the increasing transit needs and facility operations while managing the facility’s development and obtain state and federal funding.
§ Expand flexibility in the Transportation Mitigation Enhancement Program to allow it to be used for funding of regional trails. This program is funded by 10% of the impact fees in the program, but STA has not established specific guidelines for its use other than to mitigate the impacts of the Southeast Capital Connector. Bike trails that provide broad regional access can help to mitigate many of the impacts of major new roadway facilities, and this has been identified by Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) as a regional priority. In addition, as the City has provided 40% of the impact fees, it would be able to see some of that investment returned to support several proposed new trails in the city.
Policy Considerations: This policy supports the General Plan goals to improve transportation infrastructure and support reductions in vehicle miles travelled.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): Comments are considered an administrative activity and are not considered a project for purposes of CEQA.
Sustainability: Measure A funding is used for various transportation purposes throughout the county, including road maintenance and transit operations. While enacted in 2004, it does not specifically address concerns about effects of transportation on climate change, it does include funding to support active transportation projects and transit expansion, as well as more traditional transportation improvements.
Commission/Committee Action: None.
Rationale for Recommendation: The STA Board provides the opportunity to take local government input into consideration for any amendments with the ten-year review of the Measure. In order to continue to move forward with the next phases of development of the Intermodal Facility, and to support regional trail priorities, staff recommends some minor amendments to the programs to facilitate these actions.
Financial Considerations: Measure A funds have supported the purchase and major steps in development of the Intermodal Station in the Railyards. No further capital funds for this project will be available in this Measure A program other than current commitments to complete the Phase 3 Master Plan and support the City’s share of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grant it received in 2020. The City currently does not receive any transit or rail funding and is not eligible to directly apply for most rail or transit funding since it is not a transit agency. As a result, all progress at the station will slow down or stop unless the City chooses to provide substantial General Fund support. Since this facility supports the entire region, it does not appear appropriate that City of Sacramento taxpayers continue to support the development and operations of this facility alone. Pursuit of a Joint Powers Agency would provide for regional participation, operation, and funding of the facility, and expand available resource options. The request for $2 million in Measure A funding to explore and implement a regional governance structure would provide resources to ensure it continues to be a successful venue going forward. Without new Measure A funding, the City does not have available adequate funding to address all the requirements toward creating a new governmental structure.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
Background: In 2004, voters of Sacramento County approved Measure A, a 30-year extension of the countywide transportation sales tax. Ordinance No. STA 04-01 requires that an Expenditure Plan review be conducted every ten years, beginning in 2019, to ensure that the existing transportation sales tax program reflects changing transportation needs. The STA extended the initial ten-year review until a decision was made as to whether to place a new measure on the ballot. In September 2020, the STA approved a plan to re-initiate the ten-year review process.
Section XII of the Measure A implementing Ordinance states that “Beginning in 2019, and every ten years thereafter, the Authority shall review and, where necessary propose amendments to the Expenditure Plan to meet changing transportation needs. Such review shall consider recommendations from local governments, transportation agencies and interest groups, and the general public.”
The STA has scheduled three public hearings to be held in conjunction with scheduled
Authority meetings over a three-month period. At the end of the hearing process, staff will compile the input and develop recommendations for any proposed amendments to the Expenditure Plan for STA Board consideration in February.
Measure A dedicates ½ cents in countywide sales tax for transportation purposes. In addition, as a condition of receiving Measure A funds, local agencies must collect an impact fee on new development and forward it to STA.
The majority of Measure A funding is used for the following ongoing operations and programs:
§ Transit Operations & Maintenance (34%)
§ Street and Road Maintenance (29%)
§ Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities (5%)
§ Traffic Control and Safety (3%)
§ Senior & Disabled Transportation (4%)
§ Neighborhood Shuttles (1%)
§ Air Quality (1%)
Funding for three ongoing programs (Street and Road Maintenance, Pedestrian & Bike Facilities, and Traffic Control & Safety) are allocated to local cities and county based on a formula that includes population and lane-miles. The City gets receives about 32% of the funding allocated to these programs. Overall, the City receives about 12% of the Measure A funding in ongoing programs, or about 1/20th of one cent.
The balance of Measure A sales tax funds and all impact fee revenue is dedicated to capital projects as defined in the Measure and included in an Expenditure Plan. The overall program allocation for the fees collected by this program shall be:
§ Local Arterial Program
§ Public transit and rail capital improvements, including the Intermodal Facility and Regional Rail
§ Freeway congestion relief improvements, including bus and carpool lane projects
§ Interchange Improvements
In addition, two programs are entirely funded with impact fees:
§ Smart Growth Incentive Program
§ Transportation Project Environmental Mitigation
In the capital expenditure plan, the City has received funding toward two major roadway/interchange facilities:
§ $7.2 million toward the $90 million extension of Cosumnes River Boulevard and Interchange
§ $3.5 million toward reconstruction of the Richards/I-5 Interchange to serve growth in the Railyards, River District, and Central City. Staff is currently using this funding to leverage a federal grant for environmental review and alternatives analysis of the interchange. Much of the remaining capital funding allocated to the City will be needed to leverage grants for the final design and construction of this facility. Reconstruction of this facility requires coordination with Caltrans. In the event that reconstruction to provide additional multi-modal access to serve future infill growth does not prove feasible; staff recommends that analysis and construction of a new multi-modal bridge over the American River be eligible in order to address access to the area.
In addition, the City has been the lead agency for purchase and development of the Intermodal Facility in the Railyards, using Measure A funds to purchase the property, historic depot, and leverage over $100 million in state and federal funds to relocate the heavy rail tracks, separate passenger rail tracks from freight operations, modernize station operations, restore the historic depot including seismic retrofits, installation of heating/cooling, and fire suppression systems, and preparing a Master Plan for the future planned development of the site.
While the City has brought this project to tremendous strides to set it up for continued future success and development, the City’s ability to continue to take on this regional facility alone is challenged as it receives no direct transit or rail funding, its local transportation funds are generally not eligible for rail purposes, and it must usually partner with other agencies to pursue further grants for rail funding. Without additional Measure A funds, it appears time to transition this regional facility to regional operation and management through formation of a Joint Powers Agency. Given the number of operators, the broad scope and range of users, and complexity of the property, a thorough analysis and plan to create a different management system and to start the function will require additional investment.
Funding for the Expenditure Plan is far less than originally estimated. Many projects had been delivered early through issuance of bonds; therefore, future planned expenditures are substantially less than originally estimated. Many agencies had already fully expended under reduced allocation plan, leaving only five agencies to participate in the remaining capital programs. Without defining the programs, the following guidelines were approved by the STA Board in October for the next 20 years of the program:
§ Caltrans: $100 million
§ County of Sacramento: $100 million
§ City of Sacramento: $37.5 million
§ City of Citrus Heights: $9 million
§ Southeast Capital Connector Joint Powers Authority: $26 million
The two programs funded through impact fees: Smart Growth Program (15% of fees) and Transportation Mitigation Enhancement Program (10% of fees) were bit launched in the first ten years of the program. The City is the largest contributor in impact fees to the program, providing nearly 40% of all fee revenue during the first decade of the program. As a result, staff recommends the consideration of impact fee contributions be a factor in allocation in fee-funded programs.
The STA Board approved guidelines for the Smart Growth Program in November 2020, whereby this funding can be used to support successful Community Design grant projects awarded by SACOG and $5 million is provided without competition to the Southeast Capital Connector Project.
The Board has not adopted any guidelines for the Transportation Mitigation Enhancement Program other than a $5 million commitment to the Southeast Capital Connector project. The program is defined in the Measure as Habitat conservation, open space preservation, habitat replacement, and recreation, and overall environmental enhancement of transportation facilities to the benefit of local transit users and neighborhoods.:
According to the Expenditure Plan, funding categories include:
§ Environmental mitigation for transportation projects contained in Measure A
§ Open space acquisition
§ Natural habitat preservation
§ At least $5 million for planning, development and acquisition of the Cosumnes River Permanent Open Space Preserve for the I5/SR99/US50 corridor and/or any other environmental mitigation needed to offset project impacts from such project consistent with the adjacent local agencies land use planning documents and process.
With recognition of the importance of regional trail projects and several in the pipeline, staff recommends allowing for investment in regional trail developments as part of this program, with guidelines to be developed for investment in this program.