Is the State transportation bond good for Placer?
Background
In 2006, the State Legislature approved a package of infrastructure bonds to be placed on the November 2006 statewide ballot. This package included a bond proposal of nearly $20 billion for transportation, known as the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Bond Act of 2006.
The Legislature also approved the submission of separate bond proposals of $2.85 billion for housing, $4.09 billion for flood protection, and $10.416 billion for education, also for the November 2006 ballot.
In addition, they adopted SCA 7, which would place a constitutional amendment before the voters to limit the ability of the Legislature and the Governor to divert Proposition 42 funds. The protections allow Proposition 42 to be suspended no more than twice in a ten year period, and requires repayment within three years.
These infrastructure bond measures, known as Prop 1A and 1B, were approved by California voters on November 7, 2006.
Benefits to Placer
With some funding being distributed statewide by formula, and other funding allocated under competitive programs, some Placer projects have a good chance of funding. Projects are jointly nominated by the regional transportation planning agency and Caltrans, and selected by the California Transportation Commission. With PCTPA ’s reputation and strong relationships with Caltrans and the CTC, the new process provides much greater opportunity to attract funding for prominent state and local priorities, like the I-80 Capacity and Operational Improvements in Roseville (“the bottleneck”).
In February 2007, the CTC approved Corridor Mobility Improvement Account (CMIA) funding for both the I-80 Capacity and Operational Improvements project and the Lincoln Bypass. The total funding approved is just over $120 million: $73.715 million for the Lincoln Bypass; $15 million for Phase 2 of the I-80 Bottleneck in Roseville; and $31.3 million for Phase 3A of the I-80 Bottleneck in Roseville. See full list of approved CMIA projects here.
Similarly, Placer has compelling and competitive projects that could attract funding under the California Ports and Trade Infrastructure, Local Bridge Seismic Retrofit, and Intercity Rail programs.
As a balance for the competitive funds, other programs such as transit and local road funds are distributed by formula. This ensures that Placer jurisdictions receive a fair share of these needed funding pots.
There are still other programs, such as the Port-related Projects for Air Quality Emission Reduction, the State-Local Partnership Account, and the State Route 99 set asides, that Placer would probably not be eligible or competitive in based on information currently available.
Preliminarily, with an aggressive effort to secure discretionary funds, staff estimates that Placer’s share of the transportation infrastructure bond could be in the $75 million range. Greater matching funds could potentially leverage larger dollar amounts. Staff will provide updated estimates as additional information and program criteria is available.
Moreover, the Proposition 42 fix will provide strong benefit to transportation planning agencies statewide by infusing stability to the process. Essentially, this will help ensure that funding promised through the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) will be there when it’s supposed to be. This will minimize or eliminate the numerous delays we’ve seen on STIP funded projects like the Lincoln Bypass and I-80/Sierra College Boulevard Interchange.
Caveats
While these bonds provide specific benefit to Placer County, they will not solve our long-range transportation problems.
The previously proposed Transportation Expenditure Plan estimated approximately $3.3 billion of existing and future funding against a list of transportation needs that had been pared down to $5.6 billion over the next thirty years. The infusion of bond proceeds will definitely help with our transportation needs, but we will still be facing a $2.3 billion funding gap.
Furthermore, while approval of the Prop 1B will benefit transportation projects statewide, the deficits that have plagued the State budget have not abated. The 2007/08 State Budget diverts a total of approximately $1.3 billion from transportation.
More Information:
2007/08 State Budget
and How it Affects Transportation
Placer projects approved for Prop 1B funding
State Transportation Infrastructure Bond Summary: A Placer Perspective
