\t\t\t\t\tWhat’s at stake?<\/p>\n
Fresno County\u2019s current half-cent transportation sales tax, which has funded projects since 1986, is set to expire in June 2027.<\/p>\n
The possibility that Fresno County voters will have to choose between rival transportation tax measures this November could be one step closer to reality.<\/p>\n
At a Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, the board\u2019s chair, Garry Bredefeld, instructed county staff to complete a legal and fiscal analysis of placing a countywide general sales tax on the November ballot \u2014 a tax he says could be used for \u201cactually repairing and fixing roads, other capital projects, public safety\u201d and other needs.<\/p>\n
But the move comes exactly one day after a local coalition took the next step toward placing its own plan<\/a> to replace Fresno County\u2019s current half-cent transportation sales tax, Measure C, on the ballot.<\/p>\n That coalition of mayors, city councilmembers and advocates from Fresno, Clovis and the county\u2019s west side filed a notice of intention with the clerk\u2019s office on Monday to begin gathering signatures to qualify their sales tax proposal for the November ballot.<\/p>\n The group will need at least 22,000 signatures to qualify, but they\u2019ve set a goal of collecting 35,000 by about April.<\/p>\n The race to put a transportation sales tax on the ballot roughly seven months from now comes as Measure C is set to expire in June 2027. Residents have been paying that half-cent sales tax since 1986.<\/p>\n The local coalition\u2019s new plan is still for a half-cent sales tax, projected to generate approximately $7.4 billion for transportation investments over a 30-year lifespan. The plan sets aside 65% of those revenues, or about $4.8 billion, to fixing local roads, and 25%, or $1.8 billion, toward public transit.<\/p>\n Another 5% of the projected revenue will be set aside for regional projects, as well as 4% for new technologies. The remaining 1% will go toward administrative and oversight costs.<\/p>\n Those allocations, coalition leaders say, reflect the recommendations of over 4,000 county residents over the past year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the people\u2019s plan,\u201d said Andy Levine, a Fresno Unified trustee and leader with the Transportation for All coalition, \u201cthat reflects the very clear, overwhelming priorities that were shared by residents and taxpayers all over Fresno County over the past year.\u201d<\/p>\n