The proposed South County District, if approved by voters in the District, will comprehensively address the gap in local matching funding needs for transportation in the District. Without a local source of funding, the South County District will continue to fall significantly behind in addressing traffic congestion which has been increasing exponentially over the last few years. This plan proposes to fund projects that will directly benefit Rocklin; I-80 Rocklin Road Interchange and additional phased improvements to I-80/HWY 65 which will provide relief to Sunset Blvd. (refer to page 5 of the Expenditure Plan). Mike Luken, Executive Director of the Placer County Local Transportation Authority will be available to discuss if desired.
Subcounty District Legislation – AB 1413
Assembly Bill 1413 was signed into law in October 2019 by Governor Newsom permitting the formation of a sub-county sales tax district in the counties of San Diego, Solano and Placer Counties. The proposed district must contain only contiguous cities, and either all the unincorporated area of the county or none of the unincorporated area of the county. If authorized by 2/3 of the voters in the proposed district, AB 1413 permits the expenditure plan to fund transportation projects that would benefit the proposed district. In the case of Placer County, according to prior Board direction, this would mean the district could be composed of one or more of the contiguous cities/town of Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln and Loomis. Loomis was eliminated from the proposed District due to low support in January 2020.
Sales Tax Projections for Contiguous Cities/Town
Approximately $1.2 billion was projected for a theoretical 30-year ½ cent sales tax district in the South County District. This very conservative revenue analysis was performed by HDL Companies as an update to their 2017 projection which came in at approximately $1.4 billion. Due to the unknown nature of the land use that would generate sales tax in the unincorporated area and HDL’s experience in doing so in other counties examining the feasibility of transportation sales tax measures in California, HDL did not project any increase in sales tax for developing areas in the South Placer unincorporated area. With that in mind, HDL revised their projection of sales tax revenue without the unincorporated area which stayed essentially the same at $1.2 billion over 30 years to cover the gap in local matching funds needed for transportation projects in the proposed South Placer County District. Staff examined the feasibility of a ¼ cent measure in prior years but it fell far short of the $1.2 billion needed and would require a second sales tax measure in approximately 10-15 years to provide a local match to build out the planned transportation system for South Placer County.
Transfer of Incremental Increase in Local Transportation Funding to Areas Outside the Proposed District
PCTPA was created over twenty-five years ago to provide local control over transportation priorities and funding within the County. Leaders in Placer felt strongly that local control would benefit the County rather than Placer being dictated priorities by others in the Sacramento Region. Over the last twenty-five years, this has worked very well with both large and small transportation priorities being constructed on-time and on-budget including Interstate 80 Improvements, the Lincoln Bypass, the Sierra College Boulevard/I-80 Interchange, the Douglas Boulevard Interchange, portions of Sierra College Boulevard, State Route 49, Nevada Street (Auburn), Highway 65 Interchanges, the Colfax Roundabout, Phase 1 of the 80/65 Interchange and many more projects. All these projects required and received the unanimous commitment of every jurisdiction to ensure each project’s successful completion.
In an effort to provide support to Colfax, Auburn and Loomis, which are the only Placer jurisdictions outside the South Placer County District, it is proposed that an annual amount of $750,000 in Local Transportation Funding (LTF) be transferred by PCTPA to those jurisdictions. The proposed resolution to the City Councils, Town Council and Board of Supervisors will include language that would support PCTPA amending its current guidelines to provide the additional LTF funding to Colfax, Loomis and Auburn.
Residents in the South Placer County District cities, incorporated cities and towns outside the South Placer County District and residents in the unincorporated area will all be paying the proposed ½ cent sales tax when they make purchases within the South Placer County District area. The County developing communities adjacent to the proposed South Placer County District would enjoy a direct benefit from transportation infrastructure funded by South Placer County District without directly paying into the proposed District. County roads connecting and thus directly benefitting the cities within the South Placer County District would receive a limited amount of funding from the proposed South Placer County District as shown in the proposed expenditure plan.
Transportation Funding Outreach Program
PCTPA Staff, City/Town Staff and the consultant team conducted a comprehensive outreach program with key stakeholders in the South County District focusing on the need for a local source of funds for transportation infrastructure, including:
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A redesigned website featuring new content and graphics
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The creation of a Business Toolkit with sample social media postings, newsletter stories, closed circuit television images and infographics.
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Convened regular update meetings for community, business and civic leaders.
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Presentations to approximately 4,000 people at various events, service groups, neighborhood, political and other groups by staff, stakeholders, PCTPA Board Members and the consultant team.
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Sponsorship and informational tables/booths at local events/venues such as the Roseville Holiday Parade, Lincoln showcase, chamber events, Eggplant Festival and the Galleria connecting with over 35,000 people.
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Op-Eds in local and regional newspapers featuring the Roseville Mayor, Placer County Superintendent of Schools, Roseville Galleria Manager, Lincoln Chamber CEO, and the Sheriff.
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A large social media, and movie theater campaign that’s garnered millions of impressions and thousands of engagements through March 2020 with existing and new material.
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A South Placer County Business Summit was held in October and the South Placer Leadership Summit held on January 22. In addition to the main topic, these events provided an opportunity to bring awareness to the general public about the funding strategy.
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A series of electronic billboards ran throughout the District in the fall and spring.
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The Interstate 80/Highway 65 interchange videos, featuring South County business leaders, South County schools officials, police chiefs, fire chiefs, emergency room doctors and elected leaders from Lincoln, Rocklin and Roseville which incorporated the need for transportation infrastructure funding, have been released throughout the Summer, Fall and Winter months.
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A mailer was done jointly with the Town of Loomis focusing on the need for Safe Routes to Schools and the need to upgrade the Horseshoe Bar Interchange.
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Two workshops were held in the Town of Loomis at their Council meeting.
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District and city specific mailers
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An informational tri-fold brochure
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Various Chamber events,
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Chamber newsletters
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HOA newsletters and magazines
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An informational kiosk at the Roseville Galleria
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Transportation funding educational videos