Proposed vehicle fee increase lives

Rumors of the death of a proposal seeking Sonoma County voters’
approval for a $10 per vehicle fee to fund local transit, bicycle
programs and other “congestion reducing” projects are proving
false.
Members of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA)
will met last week to consider going forward with the increased
vehicle registration fee on the November 2010 ballot.
This latest vote by elected representatives from all nine cities
and the county supervisors follows a similar vote in March that
fell one vote short of putting the same question on the June 8
ballot.
Most of the debate and tight votes is all about “timing.”
Opponents of the proposal point to the continued poor economy and
high unemployment as reasons not to ask taxpayers for more money,
no matter how small the amount.
“Could we use this money — absolutely,” Healdsburg city
councilman Gary Plass told SCTA’s Suzanne Smith last week during a
public discussion about the issue. “Is the timing right? I don’t
think so,” he added.
Other informational meetings were being held this week among
city councils and local governments to gather a sense of direction
for the upcoming Monday vote.
At a Healdsburg City Council meeting, the response was lukewarm,
at best.
“A lot of agencies and governments are going to be asking for
money on the November ballot,” said Healdsburg Councilman Tom
Chambers. “There’s no doubt I support these goals, but it’s the
wrong time.
Healdsburg’s representative to SCTA is Mike McGuire who is more
favorable to a November vote.
“I see both short term and long term gains here for
Healdsburg,” said McGuire. “We can have extra support for our
transit system right now and support for more walkable communities
in the future.”
SCTA’s Smith was in Healdsburg to keep the vehicle fee proposal
alive. “Three years ago we had as much as $21 million for all our
county transit and bicycle/pedestrian programs,” she said. After
recent years of reduced state funding and budget “takeaways,” Smith
said that total is now only $16 million.
After the state legislature took additional transportation funds
away from local agencies again last year, a new law (SB 32) was
approved to allow the local agencies to seek voter approval for
increased vehicle registration fees (VRF) up to $10 per
vehicle.
This has led to seven Bay Area counties now seeking VRF
increases on either the June or November ballot. Smith said most
other counties are receiving “pretty positive” support from local
elected officials.
The SCTA proposal would collect about $5 million annually and
would be divided among the county and nine cities on a
population-based formula. (Healdsburg would receive $120,670)
The proposal would dedicate the funds to local transit
operations, safe routes to school projects and other
bicycle/pedestrian projects. Funds would not be used for road
maintenance, highway construction or administration.
Some earlier opposing votes wanted more funds to do rural road
repairs. Supervisor Paul Kelley said a fe charged to a car owner
should benefit the direct payer by “fixing our roads.” Kelley,
Shirely Zane and Valerie Brown all sit on the SCTA voting board
along with the nine individual city reps, chaired by Rohnert Park’s
Jake MacKenzie.
“It’s impossible to fund transportation and transit needs out of
a single source,” said Smith, in support of the increased VRF.
“Having sources of local funds is a huge benefit. It allows us to
leverage other federal and state funds like we were able to do to
widen Highway 101 with millions and millions of new grants and
funds.”
Proposals options defeated in the March votes did not include a
“sunset” or expiration the new fee increases and supported a
$30,000 “benefit analysis” pre-election public poll, which the
Healdsburg council rejected Monday.
Smith acknowledged there has been “much robust discussion”and
some “hasty preparations” to meet the two ballot and election
deadlines. (The county’s SCTA has until August 8 to file for a
November ballot placement.)
“It’s important to know this $5 million would be generated
within Sonoma County and stay under our control,” she told the
Healdsburg council. “This is a much more stable revenue source than
we’ve been used to.”
Christine Culver, of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, also
supported the VRF increase. “We can make this solid commitment to
change,” she said. “We can get our kids out of the box that is the
car while we all reduce greenhouse gases.”