REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 16, 2021
FROM
BRENDON BIGGS, Director, Department of Public Works -Transportation
SUBJECT
Title
Claim for Local Transportation Funds
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works to submit a claim to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, in the amount of $71,561 for the remaining portion of the San Bernardino County 2021-22 Local Transportation Funds - Article 8 allocation.
(Presenter: Brendon Biggs, Director, 387-7906)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) or cost to the Department of Public Works (Department) as this item requests authorization to submit a claim to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) for additional revenue in the amount of $71,561, which is made available through the Local Transportation Funds (LTF) program. Once the claim form is approved by SBCTA, the revenue will be deposited into the Department’s Road Operations fund (6650002000) for use in financing road maintenance work in the desert regions of the County. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the Department’s 2021-22 Road Operations budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Annually, the County submits a claim to SBCTA for allocation of the remaining LTF dollars for road maintenance work in the desert regions of the County. If approved by SBCTA, the claim amount of $71,561, which represents the remaining San Bernardino County (County) 2021-22 LTF allocation under Division 10, Part 11, Chapter 4, Article 8 of the Public Utilities Code, will finance road maintenance work in the High Desert and East Desert regions of the County.
This action supports the County and Chief Executive Officer’s goal of operating in a fiscally responsible and business-like manner by ensuring the claim of $71,561 is appropriately submitted in accordance with established procedures for receiving funds to perform maintenance on County roads located in the desert regions.
The California Transportation Development Act of 1972 established an LTF program in each county. Revenues from one quarter of one cent of State sales taxes collected are placed into LTF program funds statewide to be used mainly for transit purposes. The San Bernardino County LTF and its revenues are administered by SBCTA, which allocates revenues for transit purposes according to the budgets submitted by the various transit agencies. After allocations have been made for transit activities and if there are no unmet transit needs that can be reasonably met, any remaining revenue is provided by SBCTA to the County and cities for road maintenance activities. LTF revenues assigned to the valley region are fully expended for transit needs and no valley region LTF remain for the County to claim. SBCTA is required to hold at least one annual public hearing for the purpose of soliciting comments from the public on unmet transit needs that may exist within the County. SBCTA must also find whether any unmet transit needs might be reasonably met by establishing or contracting for new public transportation, specialized transportation services, or by expanding existing services prior to making an allocation of LTF for street purposes. SBCTA made the determination that there are no unmet transit needs that can be reasonably met in the desert region based on the feasibility of implementing the service, cost effectiveness, and community support. Based on SBCTA’s finding, there remains a portion of LTF revenues from the desert region that are available for the County to claim. The portion of LTF revenues was assigned to the desert region, therefore the County will use the claimed LTF revenues for road maintenance in the desert region.
In 2020-21, the County received $225,598 in residual LTF. In 2021-22, the amount available to the County is $71,561. As the cost of transit services increases with time, the amount of available funding for transit operations decreases and less is available for allocation for street and road maintenance.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on October 13, 2021; Finance (Jessica Trillo, Administrative Analyst, 387-4222) on October 25, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on October 31, 2021.