STATE RAID ON MEASURE D FUNDS STOPPED

Earlier this month, the Legislatures' Budget Conference Committee unanimously adopted a new Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) proposal to leave in place the existing Board of Equalization (BOE) cap on the amount they can charge for the collection local transportation sales taxes like Measure D. An earlier proposal approved by the Assembly Budget Committee to remove the fee cap could have increased the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments' BOE administrative fee by nearly 50% to $640,000 annually. This increase would have reduced available local sales tax revenue for regional transportation projects and state highway improvements by more than $1 million over 5 years.

This positive action of the conference committee is due to a real team effort. Governmental relations staff representing special taxing jurisdictions from all over California went to Sacramento and had very productive meetings with the BOE, LAO, and Conference Committee members and staff. Letters in opposition to the BOE fee increase from SBCAG and other agencies made a positive impression on members of the Conference Committee. The approved proposal calls for a report to be done by the BOE with the assistance from the LAO and Department of Finance, to look at the BOE's entire fee allocation methodology.

There is still a lot of work to do on the BOE fee study; however this issue is closed for the current budget year.

101 In Motion, a project to develop long-term solutions for relieving traffic congestion along the 101 corridor in the South Coast of Santa Barbara County, reached its first milestone with the Steering Committee decision to eliminate three potential solutions from consideration.

Suggestions to eliminate all of the shoulders and re-stripe Highway 101 to six lanes, building a bypass freeway along the foothills, and ideas for most elevated guideway transit solutions were all concluded to be "fatally flawed" and recommended by the technical team to be eliminated. The remaining thirty-one ideas will continue to be evaluated, along with the possibility that other ideas will be added as the project's outreach efforts continue.

"This is the first step in providing feedback to some of the ideas we have heard in the initial round of outreach to the communities and stakeholders who deal with the increasing traffic congestion in the South Coast," explained Jim Kemp, Executive Director of SBCAG. "We look forward to additional feedback from the community through the focus group meetings we're planning to have in July."

In February 2004, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments launched 101 In Motion: Creating Transportation Solutions. Since then, the 101 In Motion outreach team has been talking to local residents in communities along the corridor to get them involved in helping resolve the South Coast's congestion issues.

The team has heard from more than 600 members of the community, many never before engaged in transportation issues, in addition to receiving input through mail, email, the 101 in Motion website, the hotline (866-MOVE101) and community workshops in Goleta, Santa Barbara, Buellton and Carpinteria. Some other issues stakeholders identified as important when considering transportation solutions included expanding transportation choices for the community and finding ways to reduce demand, i.e., increasing ridesharing, flexible work hours, building housing near jobs, etc. As for transportation solution ideas, building rail and adding freeway lanes were repeatedly mentioned.

101 In Motion is now in the next phase of outreach to the community. A series of community representative focus groups will be held along the freeway corridor for stakeholders to provide input that will help the technical team formulate the eight or nine initial packages of alternatives to relieve traffic congestion on Highway 101. To participate in the upcoming focus groups, share your ideas or sign up to receive additional information visit, www.101inMotion.com or call 866-MOVE101.

Technical Transportation Advisory Committee

9:00 AM
Buellton City Council Chambers
140 West Highway 246
Buellton

2:00 PM
Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District
Conference Room
550 Olive Street
Santa Barbara

8:30 AM
Board of Supervisor Hearing Room
511 E. Lakeside Parkway
Santa Maria

SHANNON MOVES ON

Shannon McEttrick, Marketing Coordinator, for the Traffic Solutions division of SBCAG, will be leaving the organization on July 16. During her employment with Traffic Solutions, Shannon has had the opportunity to work with community leaders, private sector clients, partner agencies and media outlets to promote Traffic Solutions' programs and services.

Early in her Traffic Solutions career Shannon negotiated a commuter rate with Amtrak for Santa Barbara County commuters. She worked to promote vanpool commuting through the popular Vanpool Quickstart program and encouraged downtown Santa Barbara employees to Try Something New with the "200 Clams a Day" marketing program. Developing a marketing strategy for alternative transportation programs that can appeal to the common commuter has been a primary goal for Shannon during her three and a half years at Traffic Solutions.

Shannon is leaving Traffic Solutions to pursue her creative abilities as a design consultant. She leaves the agency with a newly developed logo identity, monthly e-newsletter and a number of other design improvements that have brought a fresh new look to both SBCAG and Traffic Solutions. She will be sorely missed, and we all wish her the best in her new venture.