In response to advocates of alternative transportation, government officials have changed a proposal for spending money that would be raised if voters renew a Santa Barbara County sales tax known as Measure D.

The new proposal would shift $97 million from local control - funds traditionally used for road maintenance - to regional bus and bicycle transportation as well as to the “Safe Routes to Schools” program.

Regional programs are under the direction of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) board of directors, composed of the five county supervisors and one elected official from each city government.

Measure D, a half-cent sales tax to fund transportation projects, will expire in 2010 unless two-thirds of Santa Barbara County voters approve an extension of the levy, which is expected to raise $1 billion over 30 years. As an additional benefit, cities and the county can use that revenue as matching money to obtain more federal and state grants to increase the pool of available transportation dollars.

The issue is slated to go before voters in November. Over the next few months, SBCAG staff and a consulting team will be taking the new plan to a number of public workshops for comments, then return for a formal board discussion in April.

SBCAG is considering asking voters not only to extend the existing half-cent Measure D but also to approve an additional quarter-cent tax to supplement regional and local transportation projects.

The extra tax is expected to raise an additional $500 million over the 30-year period, but it would take effect only if the first tier of funding is approved at the same time.

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At last month's SBCAG meeting, numerous people lobbied the board for more money for mass transit and alternative transportation, which they said were being underrepresented, in favor of funding for street repairs and highway congestion relief.

In response, the Oakland-based Tramutola Co. consulting firm, which is guiding SBCAG staff through the effort to get Measure D renewed, changed the allocations to allow more money for alternative modes of transportation.

“(Tramutola) has been watching this process, and knows very well what all the different interests are,” said Gregg Hart, government affairs director of SBCAG. “They've tried to synthesize public testimony and all dialogue with public works directors and city managers to try to navigate a course between all the interests to get something people will pass.”

The prolonged debate about how to use the new tax revenue has generally pitted South Coast advocates of more rail, bus and bicycle transportation against North County officials who have used the money primarily for street and road repair.

The new proposal divvies up an expected $630 million among the local jurisdictions if Measure D is renewed at its current half-cent level. Local governments stand to take in an additional $157 million if the tax increase also passes.

Those numbers represent a shift of $97 million from the original two-tier plan, money that the SBCAG staff proposes to be absorbed into regional bus, highway safety, bicycle and safe routes to schools programs.

“This is what advocates for alternative transportation have been wanting, to be fairly represented on the table,” Hart said.

Santa Maria City Manger Tim Ness said cities will feel an immediate impact if they lose a chunk of their funding, but he won't know how big the effect will be on Santa Maria until he can study the proposal more thoroughly.

“At first blush it appears as though it's not as beneficial to Santa Maria as the one prior to this,” Ness said.

Under the new plan, buses would receive $29.5 million more if the entire three-quarter-cent tax is passed, and none of that money could be used for streets and roads, unlike under the earlier proposal.

Bicycles would receive a combined $47.5 million if both tax measures pass, which is a $32.5 million increase.

“I think this is a very good plan and a very measured one. This is one that is designed to have voters approve both parts of it,” said Ralph Fertig, president of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.

Finally, the proposal calls for giving safe routes to schools $45 million, an increase of $30 million. This program is designed to paint crosswalks or complete sidewalk systems to generally improve a student's ability to get to school safely.

The public meetings to receive comment on the proposal have not been scheduled, but the SBCAG staff plans to hold six of them around the county before the April SBCAG board meeting.

For more information, call SBCAG at 961-8900.

Randi Block can be reached at 347-4580 or rblock@santamariatimes.com

February 16, 2006