DATE: August 19, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Transportation Funding Claim for FY 2024-25
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Transportation Funding Claim to the Fresno Council of Governments for FY 2024-25 in the amount of $11,492,860 to provide transit services in unincorporated areas and for other transportation purposes; and
2. Adopt Resolution requesting the Fresno Council of Governments to allocate specified funds from the Local Transportation Fund and State Transit Assistance Fund to the County of Fresno for transit services in unincorporated areas and for other transportation purposes.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions will authorize the allocation of State Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds, in the form of Local Transportation Fund (LTF) and State Transit Assistance Fund (STA) for the County’s share of costs to provide transit services in unincorporated areas and for other transportation purposes. TDA statutes also provide for funding of regional transportation planning, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and, as available, streets and roads. Transit services for residents of the unincorporated areas are provided by Fresno Area Express (FAX) and Handy Ride, Clovis Transit (Round Up), the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA), and the Consolidated Transportation Services Agencies (CTSA’s), which provide social services transit. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board does not approve the recommended actions, TDA fund disbursements will be delayed to agencies providing transit service to County residents and for streets and roads funds made available to the County after transit needs are met.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Allocations are made using TDA funds apportioned to the County for predetermined purposes.
Article 3 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities) funds in the amount of $183,074 and Article 8A (Streets and Roads) funds in the amount of $4,385,396 will be received from the TDA and deposited into the Department of Public Works and Planning (Department’s) Road Fund 0010, Org 4510. Funds apportioned for regional transportation planning and the various transit providers are allocated directly to other agencies by the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) and recorded as revenue and expenditure transactions under the Department’s Transit Services Org 4700.
DISCUSSION:
Introduction
FCOG, as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for the County, is responsible for apportioning the LTF and STA funds to member agencies and to transit providers as directed by the member agencies.
LTF funds are derived from a fourth (1/4) cent of the general sales tax collected statewide. The total amount of LTF funds apportioned to the County and its cities is based on the ratio of sales tax collected from each county in the State. Within the County, LTF funds are apportioned among the unincorporated areas of the County and the cities based on their relative populations.
STA funds are derived from the statewide sales tax on diesel fuel. Apportionment of STA funds is based in part on population and in part on the revenue collected by each transit operator. STA funds can only be used for mass transportation purposes.
Table 1: TDA Claim Calculations
Table 1 is provided to accompany the following discussion regarding the apportionment of TDA funds:
The total TDA claim amount of $11,492,860 is the sum of the County’s LTF apportionment of $9,157,643; $452,330 from a tax sharing agreement (Agreement No. 08-139) with the City of Coalinga approved in 2008; and the County’s STA funds in the amount of $1,882,887.
LTF regulations require that a portion of the County’s LTF allocation be apportioned as follows:
• $183,074 for the construction of Article 3 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities) projects.
• $452,488 for Article 4.5 (Social Services Transit) provided by the CTSAs.
• $255,662 for regional transportation planning carried out through FCOG.
After the funding amounts described above ($891,224) have been subtracted from the base LTF ($9,157,643), $8,266,419 remains. For purposes of ultimately calculating the amount available to the County for Article 8A (Streets and Roads), this remainder amount is added to funds from the tax sharing agreement with the City of Coalinga ($452,330) and to the County’s STA funds ($1,882,887) apportioned to the County. The sum of these amounts totals $10,601,636.
The next step in determining the amount available to the County for Article 8A, is to deduct the County’s share of the costs associated with providing non-social services transit to the unincorporated areas. These costs are calculated based on operating costs, farebox revenues, and unincorporated area ridership. FAX and Handy Ride services are provided pursuant to a 1986 agreement between the County and the City of Fresno for public transportation services in the unincorporated portions of the Fresno metropolitan area.
The amounts from the County’s apportionment for those transit agencies are as follows:
• The amount for the FCRTA from the County’s apportionment is $1,136,107.
• The amount for FAX and Handy Ride from the County’s apportionment is $5,019,127.
• The amount for Clovis Transit from the County’s apportionment is $61,006. This amount is a 54.33% increase from the amount paid to Clovis in FY 2023-24. Due to clerical errors in FY 2020-2023, Clovis was either underpaid or overpaid. Adjustments to compensate for the previous FYs’ under and overpayments resulted in the significantly decreased amount of $39,529 paid to Clovis Transit in FY 2023-24.
Subtracting the combined amounts for non-social services transit ($6,216,240) from $10,601,636 leaves $4,385,396 available for the County’s Article 8A (Streets and Roads) funding.
Table 2: TDA Claim Calculations
Table 2 shows the County’s FY 2024-25 apportionments compared with those from FY 2023-24. The following points are provided to clarify the differences in the apportionment amounts:
• An overall increase in the Total TDA Claim amount for FY 2024-25 based on actuals provided by FCOG, lead to increases in funding for Article 3, Article 4.5, and Regional Transportation Planning.
• The TDA funding amount to FAX and Handy Ride ($5,019,127) decreased 0.34% from FY 2023-24.
Conclusion
The calculated Article 8A funding available in FY 2024-25 for maintenance of the County roadway system increased 4.40% ($184,944) from FY 2023-24.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
FCOG staff reviewed the claim and agree with the allocation of funds, which is consistent with and fulfills County obligations to adopted budgets of each transit agency. City of Fresno staff reviewed the FAX and Handy Ride calculations and adjustment, and submitted their own claim based on it. The calculations determining the contributions for the FCRTA and the City of Clovis were provided to the Department by those agencies and were reviewed by Department staff.
Following your Board’s approval of the claim, it will be submitted to the FCOG Transportation Technical Committee and Policy Advisory Committee for review. Then the claim will be submitted to the FCOG Board for approval.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #62, June 24, 2025
BAI #53, September 19, 2023
BAI #40, April 25, 2023
BAI #40, August 24, 2021
BAI #33, May 1, 2020
BAI #52, April 9, 2019
BAI #36, April 3, 2018
BAI #36, May 2, 2017
BAI #43, March 25, 2008
BAI #33A, November 18, 1986
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Tables 1 and 2
On file with Clerk - TDA Claim Form
On file with Clerk - Resolution
CAO ANALYST:
Maria Valencia