FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A transportation funding measure that has helped pay for roads, highways and infrastructure projects across Fresno County for nearly four decades is set to expire next year. Now, supporters are working to put a replacement before voters this November.<\/p>\n
More than 150 elected officials, business leaders and community members gathered in downtown Fresno Monday to rally behind the proposed Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation measure. Supporters say the initiative would continue the existing half-cent sales tax established under Measure C, rather than create a new tax, while shifting more funding toward neighborhood streets, sidewalks and rural roads.<\/p>\n
If the measure qualifies for the November ballot, Fresno County voters will decide its future.<\/p>\n
“We have one real job at the end of the day that anybody ever cares about,” one supporter said. “It’s fixing potholes. That is the most basic form of local municipal government.”<\/p>\n
Measure C has funded transportation projects throughout Fresno County since voters first approved it in 1986. Revenue from the half-cent sales tax has helped pay for freeway construction, highway improvements and transit projects.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the replacement measure argue that while those regional projects have been successful, local roads and sidewalks have fallen behind.<\/p>\n
“The City of Fresno alone has over $1.2 billion in deferred street maintenance throughout our city and another $300 million in deferred maintenance for our sidewalks,” supporters said during Monday’s event.<\/p>\n
With the current Measure C scheduled to expire in June 2027, advocates say the proposed replacement would provide long-term funding to address deteriorating neighborhood infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said residents have made their priorities clear.<\/p>\n
“The people of Fresno demand their neighborhood streets to be fixed, their sidewalks to be repaired, and better transportation throughout Fresno County,” Dyer said.<\/p>\n
Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez said smaller communities stand to benefit as well.<\/p>\n
“Better Roads, Safe Streets gives communities like Mendota a real opportunity to repair deteriorating streets, improve safety and build a stronger future,” Martinez said.<\/p>\n
Supporters also released an economic analysis prepared by Fresno-based advisory firm Penbera Paris, which estimates the measure would generate significant economic activity over the next 30 years.<\/p>\n
According to the firm’s executive summary, the measure would:<\/p>\n
Create more than 68,000 jobs<\/p>\n
Generate more than $5 billion in labor income<\/p>\n
Produce approximately $13.4 billion in total economic output throughout Fresno County<\/p>\n
“As money comes into an economy, it flows through,” said Penbera Paris Chairman Joseph Penbera. “You have people who are directly employed by these projects, and then additional jobs are created because those workers spend money in their local communities.”<\/p>\n
Supporters say they have already collected approximately 22,000 signatures in an effort to qualify the measure for the November ballot.<\/p>\n
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider certifying the petition signatures Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Although California law gives county officials until Aug. 21 to complete the signature review process, the Board of Supervisors would need to approve placing the measure on the November ballot by Aug. 7.<\/p>\n
If the board takes no action Tuesday, its next regularly scheduled meeting is Aug. 11\u2014four days after the ballot deadline.<\/p>\n
“Tomorrow really is a true day to determine our democracy, and this is not a time to play politics,” one supporter said.<\/p>\n
Another added, “We cannot afford to allow this measure to not go through, and that is a message for our supervisors at the county.”<\/p>\n
FOX26 also asked Fresno County Transportation Authority Executive Director Moses Stites how much Measure C funding remains, what projects it has already been committed to, and when the county will completely exhaust the existing Measure C revenue.<\/p>\n
In a phone interview, Stites said there is enough money available to complete every transportation project that has already been programmed for construction.<\/p>\n
He said no Measure C funds will be left over because the revenue has already been allocated to specific construction costs.<\/p>\n
While the half-cent sales tax will officially stop being collected in June 2027, Stites said Measure C funding will continue supporting projects already in the pipeline through June 2029, allowing time to complete ongoing construction.<\/p>\n
Another Transportation Initiative<\/p>\n
A separate transportation proposal, known as Fix Our Roads, is also seeking a place on the November ballot.<\/p>\n
Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus told FOX26 the campaign has not yet submitted any signatures. However, organizers still have 40 days remaining to circulate petitions if they choose to continue their effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A transportation funding measure that has helped pay for roads, highways and infrastructure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-397476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}