What About
Measure B?
L
ast year, more than 70 percent
of Santa Clara County voters
said “Yes” to Measure B, a
30-year, half-cent countywide sales
tax to fund transportation needs in
nine program areas, including Local
Streets & Roads. VTA’s timetable
shows that program area guidelines
will be approved by May and budget
allocations for FY 2018-19 will be
adopted in June 2017, when the VTA
expects to receive its first payment
from tax revenues. Follow Measure B
progress at vta.org/measure-b-2016.
Morgan Hill City Manager, Steve
Rymer noted that “Measure B is a very
positive step forward, a good example
of city and county government
officials and citizens connecting on
the issues. From South County’s
perspective, we need to look at how
we make sure that from a capacity
standpoint our infrastructure keeps
up. In recent years, we’ve increased
Morgan Hill’s voice regarding state-
wide measures. The League of
California Cities represents us to the
State of California, which apportions
funds to give cities their fair share.”
Your Sales Tax Dollars
Proposed projects for the $6.3 billion in
anticipated revenue include:
• BART to San Jose and Santa Clara, $1.5 billion
• Street repairs, $1.2 billion
• Caltrain capacity improvements and grade
separations, $1 billion
• County expressways, $750 million
• Interchanges, $750 million
• Transit operations for vulnerable and
underserved populations, $500 million
• Highway 85 transit, $350 million
• Bicycle and pedestrian improvements,
$250 million
14
The cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy
have both allocated additional funds
from their General Fund discretionary
budgets for pavement maintenance,
but acknowledge it’s not a sustainable
solution. Meanwhile, our cities are
diligently seeking out available grant
funds (competitive and non-competitive)
to maximize the level of roadway
maintenance work they can do in any
given year.
Both cities anticipate Measure B as a
predictable roadway funding source that
will kick in later this year and extend over
time. They also point to new California
legislation at the Assembly and Senate
levels. (See Your Sales Tax Dollars)
Morgan Hill 2017
In 2014, the City of Morgan Hill released
its first comprehensive Infrastructure
Report that identified, quantified and
prioritized the needs to maintain the City’s
existing infrastructure as well as strategies
and options to fund those needs. This was
followed by another report in April 2015.
According to City Manager Steve
Rymer, “The area of greatest need was
our streets and roads. We evaluated their
condition and prioritized capital projects
and ongoing maintenance requirements.”
Currently the City allocates about four
percent of its discretionary General Fund
revenue for streets and roads (roughly
80 percent goes to public safety, which
remains the community’s top priority).
Rymer noted that the addition of
car dealerships and major downtown
redevelopment projects has generated
developer impact fees, but only for new
expansion of city streets, not for repair
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
MARCH/APRIL 2017
or maintenance of existing pavement.
And while priority must be given to
maintenance of heavily trafficked roads
such as Monterey and Butterfield and
roads adjacent to schools, the City must
also factor in long-established neighbor-
hoods, which represent many miles of
aging roads.
“It’s a balancing act,” Rymer said. “We
watch the PCI, but just as importantly
we watch deferred maintenance.” Morgan
Hill’s most recent Pavement Management
Program states that in five years, at the
current level of investment, average
PCI will fall to 60 and the deferred
maintenance will climb to $41 million.
“We’re looking at the puzzle of how
we fund our needs, looking beyond the
city to county and state agencies that
can provide a significant and predictable
source of funding. We’re doing all we
can to position ourselves to be in early
rounds of state funding. Morgan Hill
plans to be engaged in Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority’s planning and
decision-making process as it sets guide-
lines for funding Measure B programs.
These funds will cover $800,000 per year
for our pavement maintenance.
We received $1,379,000 from the One
Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program, which
will be utilized this year for a pavement
overlay along Monterey Road from East
Dunne Avenue to East Middle Avenue.”
The OBAG program is administered
by the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission (MTC) with assistance from
the VTA. Councilmember Larry Carr
serves on the VTA board of directors.
“When we defer maintenance of
our city streets, we jeopardize our
future,” Rymer added. “People in the
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