Map shows how the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments divides up SLO County with regards to transportation funding. Map courtesy SLOCOG
San Luis Obispo County voters will be asked in November to approve a sales tax hike to fund road repairs and leverage even more money out of the State and Uncle Sam.
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) board recently voted to approve the “San Luis Obispo County Transportation Expenditure Plan,” the general outline of how the agency plans to spend a half-cent sales tax, if voters go along with the plan.
The tax hike would raise $35 million a year according to SLOCOG, which is in the process of asking local city councils to endorse the plan. The Morro Bay City Council is slated to hear the spending plan at its Tuesday, March 10 meeting (6 p.m. Vet’s Hall), according to a schedule put out by SLOCOG.
The Morro Bay City Council was given the draft plan in early January, but no action was taken. The Council had just two members of the public comment on the matter, with one suggesting a change in who decides the local road priorities and the other opposed to the tax hike and calling on SLOCOG to lobby Caltrans for a fairer distribution of gas tax monies.
Interest in the tax hike should pick up considerably as the November Election nears.
As a special tax for a specific purpose, the measure will need to get two-thirds majority approval, a tall ask that SLOCOG narrowly failed to get several years ago the first time the agency proposed a sales tax increase to fund road repairs.
General use taxes require only 50% approval, but SLOCOG’s sole focus is on transportation projects.
As it stands now, State and Federal gas taxes make up the overwhelming majority of roads monies They are mainly handed out to counties and cities based on population.
SLO County, at about 230,000 residents, is on the less populated side in California, so grants when they come in, are not as high as what other, more populated counties receive.
SLOCOG’s spending plan for the projected $35 million a year, would spend 55% (some $19.25 million) on local road repairs and improvements; 40% ($14M) on regional corridor roads; 4% ($1.4M) on mobility services; and, 1% ($350,000) on administration, according to the spending plan.
Beyond these direct benefits is the idea that having a local source of funds makes SLO County more attractive for the big competitive grant programs. It could be leveraged as a local match for the big money grants, something that is becoming a greater necessity for limited tax monies handed out through these grant programs.
“What we really want residents to understand,” SLOCOG Executive Director, Pete Rodgers said, “is that with more funding and more control locally, we, as a region, can better compete for and win larger amounts of funding from state and federal grants, bringing our fair share back to SLO County.”
According to SLOCOG, 89% of the counties in California are already so-called, “self-help counties,” with local money for transportation needs.
Under the spending plan, the biggest share (55%) would go to local road repairs and improvements, which the spending plan said includes:
• Local road maintenance, rehabilitation, and repair.
• Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to College programs.
• Local intersections, operational and traffic safety improvements.
• Bridge safety and seismic retrofits.
• Bicycle and pedestrian improvements (sidewalks, crosswalks, multi-use paths).
• Community enhancements tied to transportation (streetscape, lighting, landscaping, way finding).
• Traffic signal improvements and synchronization.
• Piers, walkways and other pedestrian or bike paths in and around waterfront and river areas.
• Transit services including local trolley services may be funded if desired by a City.
In Morro Bay the City’s share of the $19 million a year could be added to the town’s regular pavement management project allowing more surface streets in town to get paved.
Morro Bay already has a half-cent local sales tax (Measure Q) that provides money for this as well as funding for the needs of the police and fire departments.
But before readers start seeing dollar signs in their dreams, the SLOCOG money would also be allocated based on population. Morro Bay is one of the smallest cities in SLO County, so whatever money comes out of SLOCOG’s tax hike, the City could be expected to get a smaller share than places like Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande and even Atascadero, which have much greater populations. Only Pismo Beach is smaller in population than Morro Bay.
County Supervisors would decide how the County’s share would be spent, however, the money is to be divided equally among the five Supervisorial Districts, according to the spending plan.
Dist. 2, which covers the entire North Coast from Los Osos to San Simeon, has most of its population living in unincorporated towns and with Cayucos and Cambria being major tourism spots, Dist. 2 would probably generate a large portion of these sales taxes.
Under “Regional Corridor Improvements” the plan’s uses for the $14M include:
• Highway and major corridor congestion relief such as van or carpool lanes or other congestion relief measures.
• Safety and interchange improvements.
• Regional bicycle and pedestrian connectors between communities like the Bob Jones Trail.
• Interagency Transit Access.
• Mitigation impacts for proposed improvements.
• Other projects consistent with the adopted Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).
According to the spending plan, “Mobility Services” directs the $1.4 million towards seniors, veterans and the “mobility challenged.”
The spending plan says, “Funds shall support improvements to mobility programs that prioritize services for seniors, veterans, and mobility challenged.”
As for the “administration” costs ($350,000 a year) the plan says, “No more than 1% of annual revenues shall be allocated by the Authority for administration, reporting, auditing, and program oversight.”
The tax measure in November will also set up an organizational hierarchy for the spending with SLOCOG’s 13-member board — that consists of all five County Supervisors plus one representative from each of seven cities and one from a special district — designated the Authority Board.
The measure would also establish an oversight committee. “This Expenditure Plan provides for the creation of a Citizens’ Oversight Committee to ensure transparency and accountability.”
The oversight committee will have 12 members, one appointed by each of the seven cities and one each by the five Supervisors.
If the name is any indication, the Citizen’s Oversight Committee would be made up of non-elected citizens as opposed to elected officials. SLOCOG’s Board already has elected officials.
But who will sit on this Citizen’s Oversight Committee isn’t spelled out in the spending plan.
The idea of a sales/transportation tax almost didn’t fly at all. SLOCOG had to get the State Legislature’s help to allow the half-cent tax hike to even be put to a vote.
State Sen. John Laird (Dist. 15, Santa Cruz), who represents SLO County, authored Senate Bill 333, a law that allows a higher than normal sales tax hike in SLO County.
According to the Legislative Counsel’s Summary of SB 333: “Existing law authorizes various local governmental entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use [sales] tax for general or specific purposes, in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, including a requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in any county not exceed 2%.”
The Legislative Council’s summary continues, “This bill would authorize the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, by an ordinance adopted by the council, to levy a tax pursuant to the Transactions and Use Tax Law at a rate not to exceed 1%, for general and special purposes, subject to voter approval on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2032. The bill would authorize the board to exceed the 2% limit described above to impose the retail transactions and use tax.”
Several cities in SLO County, including Morro Bay, already have local sales taxes approved by voters. In Morro Bay it totals 1.5% (Meas. Q and E-20) and the overall sales tax here is 8.75% (7.25% goes to the State).
Because several SLO County cities already have local sales tax initiatives, Morro Bay included, SLOCOG wouldn’t have been able to apply its tax hike of 0.5% in those areas. SB 333 cleared the way for the voters to decide the matter and for it to be collected throughout the County.
Sen. Laird said, “For years, San Luis Obispo County has worked to maintain a growing transportation system with dwindling resources, all while state tax limits made it harder for local communities to help themselves. SB 333 changes that by giving residents the chance to decide their own future.
“It allows SLOCOG to go directly to voters with a proposal to fix local roads, improve safety on corridors like Highways 46 and 227, and keep our communities connected.”
If EBN readers want to check out SLOCOG’s Expenditure Plan for what will officially be called, “The Local Roads First Self-Help Initiative” on the November ballot, see: www.localroadsfirst.com.
