Dive Brief:
- Sacramento County, CA, has a $3.6 billion infrastructure plan, and county officials may soon be looking to taxpayers to approve a half-cent sales tax increase to help foot the bill, according to the Sacramento Bee. The county already has a half-cent sales tax in place to fund transportation projects.
- The Sacramento Transportation Authority has produced a list of road, highway, bridge and light rail repairs and improvements that have been delayed for many years, and officials said they’ll need local funding to get them done — as state and federal funding failed to meet demand for such projects.
- The California counties of Placer and Yolo, along with the city of Pacerville, are also considering similar tax increase ballot measures for November in order to fund their own infrastructure projects. .
Dive Insight:
Between those counties and municipalities contemplating a sales tax increase, projects awaiting money include a variety of repairs, light rail and road extensions, senior and disabled transportation and completion of projects abandoned due to lack of funds. The standout project in Sacramento is a $700 million widening and associated program of other improvements linked to Interstate 80.
Adequate infrastructure and highway funding has been a constant struggle in California, largely due to the state’s gas-tax swap plan. When gas prices fall — as they have in the last year — so does the gas tax rate. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the tax has fallen 9 cents in the past two years, with each cent reduction representing a funding decline of $149.2 million. Such a monetary drop in support for transportation has resulted in the shelving or cancellation of many projects in the face of gas tax revenue losses exceeding $1 billion.
On a positive note, the Federal Highway Administration recently announced that it will disburse $2.1 billion in unused, previously earmarked "orphan" funds among several states, and California is in line for a $126.1 million piece of the pot.
