Proponents of the social justice-backed Fresno County transportation tax measure have submitted signatures to the county, bringing it one step closer to appearing on the November ballot.
Once the signatures are verified, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors could place it on the ballot during one of their meetings in May or June.
The big picture: The Better Roads and Safe Streets coalition submitted more than 32,000 signatures to the Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Office on Tuesday. Initiatives need around 22,000 signatures in order to qualify for the ballot, effectively ensuring that Better Roads and Safe Streets make it on.
The initiative spawned from the remains of the failed Measure C renewal process and took its plan from the one put forward by the Measure C Steering Committee.
It is supported by groups such as the Central Valley Community Foundation, Fresno Building Healthy Communities and Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
Zoom in: Better Roads and Safe Streets will have a 30-year lifespan that is projected to bring in $7.3 billion with a half-cent sales tax.
The initiative will have 65% of its funding go to road repair, 25% to public transit, 4% to public transit innovation, 4% to regional projects, 1% to airports and 1% to administration.
What we’re watching: Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus told The Sun that his office has 30 business days to complete a random check of the signatures to determine if the initiative has collected sufficient valid signatures. The due date is May 28.
Kus said his office expects to complete the random sample well before that date, but the office could be delayed if a state proposition petitions for review in the next two weeks, since that would take processing priority due to the shorter initial processing deadline.
Once the signatures are verified, Kus will present the initiative to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, likely at the May 19 or June 2 meetings.
If the measure is only found to be “potentially” sufficient through the random sample, the county will have to conduct a full review of all signatures and would not report to the Board of Supervisors before August.
Zoom out: Another initiative, called the Fix Our Roads measure, is currently collecting signatures to submit to the county.
Fix Our Roads is a competing measure that would succeed Measure C and is backed by former Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea, former Fresno Council of Governments director Tony Boren, Fresno County Transportation Authority Director Mike Leonardo, Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce, Reedley Mayor Matthew Tuttle and Fresno Building Trades Council leader Chuck Riojas, among others.
That initiative would implement a half-cent sales tax over 20 years, raising around $3.9 billion.
It would allocate 82% for road repairs with the remainder headed to public transit.
If both initiatives pass, the measure that has more support from Fresno County voters will become law.