DATE: May 12, 2020
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Transportation Funding Claim for FY 2019-20
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Transportation Funding Claim for FY 2019-20 in the amount of $8,398,962 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 (Roundup), the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA), and the Consolidated Transportation Services Agencies (CTSA’s). CTSA’s provide social services transit. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable alternative actions. If your Board does not approve the recommended actions, TDA fund disbursements will be delayed to agencies providing transit service to County residents and streets and roads funds for these services will not be available to the County.
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 $132,226 and Article 8a (Streets and Roads) funds in the amount of $2,618,110 will be received from the TDA and deposited into the Department of Public Works and Planning - 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 County Council of Governments (FCOG) and recorded as revenue and expenditure transactions under the Department’s Transit Services Org 4700.
DISCUSSION:
Introduction
FCOG, 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 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 $8,398,962 is the sum of the County’s LTF apportionment of $6,604,800; $109,129 from a tax sharing agreement (No. 08-139) with the City of Coalinga approved in 2008; and the County’s STA funds in the amount of $1,685,033. However, the City of Coalinga has fallen behind in their audits, which resulted in their ineligibility to receive TDA allocations until brought up to date. As a result, the County is only receiving its share of Coalinga’s Measure C allocation pursuant to the 2008 agreement with Coalinga and is not receiving its share of the Coalinga TDA allocation. The FY 2018-19 TDA claim will be adjusted accordingly provided that Coalinga’s TDA allocations have been restored.
LTF regulations require that a portion of the County’s LTF allocation be apportioned as follows:
• $132,226 for the construction of Article 3 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities) projects.
• $317,463 for Article 4.5 (Social Services Transit) provided by the CTSAs.
• $184,653 for regional transportation planning carried out through FCOG.
After the funding amounts described above ($634,342) have been subtracted from the base LTF ($6,604,800), $5,970,458 remains. For purposes of ultimately calculating the amount available to the County for Article 8a (Streets and Roads), this amount is added to funds from the tax sharing agreement with the City of Coalinga ($109,129) and to County’s STA funds ($1,685,033) apportioned to the County. These amounts total $7,764,620.
To determine the amount available to the County for Article 8a, the County’s share of the costs associated with providing non-social services transit to unincorporated areas must be determined. These costs are calculated based on operating costs, fare box 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 are as follows:
• The amount for the FCRTA from the County’s apportionment is $153,568.
• The amount for FAX and Handy Ride from the County’s apportionment is $2,618,110.
• The amount for Clovis Transit from the County’s apportionment is $46,153.
Subtracting these amounts ($2,817,831) from $7,764,620 leaves $4,946,789 available for the County’s Article 8a (Streets and Roads) funding.
Table 2: TDA Claim Calculations
Table 2 shows the County’s FY 2019-20 apportionments compared with those from FY 2018-19. The following points are provided to clarify the differences in the apportionment amounts:
• The TDA funding amount increased for FY 2019-20, leading to increases in funding for Article 3 and regional transportation planning.
• Between FY 2018-19 and 2019-20, the passage of Senate Bill 1 (SB-1) led to an increase in the amount of STA funds available. Efficient budgeting along with the addition of SB-1 funds resulted in a carryover balance at the end of FY 2018-19, which significantly reduced this year’s FCTRA claim.
• The increase in Fax and Handy Ride contributions compared to FY 2018-19 is derived from per-capita share calculations based on LTF and STA apportionments and proportional ridership for Handy Ride users, and includes adjustments based on the actual TDA funds received the prior year.
• The contribution for Clovis Transit services decreased due to a decrease in ridership by residents in Tarpey Village.
Conclusion
Despite the significant decrease in FCTRA funds and Clovis Transit ridership, the overall increased contributions to transit needs prevailed over the funding decreases. The calculated Article 8A funding available in FY 2019-20 for maintenance of the County roadway system increased 50.79% ($1,666,248) from FY 2018-19 as a result of the boost in STA funds from the passage of SB-1.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
FCOG staff reviewed the claim and agrees with the allocation of funds which is consistent with and fulfills County fiscal obligations to 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 #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:
Debbie Paolinelli