Fresno City Hall’s proposed stop-gap to make up lost revenue from an expiring county transportation tax got approval from the city council Thursday to go before voters in November.

The plan creates a half-cent sales tax that goes into the general fund. To keep the lower 50%-plus-one voter approval threshold, revenue cannot be restricted, said council president Nelson Esparza.

Councilmembers approved the measure, 6-1, with Annalisa Perea opposed.

Esparza said while he wanted parameters on spending, a general sales tax was the best path forward.

“There was no way we were going to come up with a consensus in 10, 12 days before a deadline to submit to the city clerk,” Esparza said.

While concerns arose about what affect a city tax measure would mean for the transportation tax delayed by Fresno County supervisors last week, Dyer said he would use his veto to pull the initiative if the Better Roads Safe Streets qualifies for the November ballot.

“What I don’t want to do is put two ballot measure on there regarding transportation  because I think both of them fail,” Dyer said.

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Will City Transportation Tax Undermine County Tax?

While money could be used for any purpose, conversation surrounded road repair.

The sales tax would raise $65 million a year and would expire if a replacement for Measure C passes, known as Better Roads Safe Streets, or any other road tax passes. Otherwise, it sunsets after 10 years.

A citizen oversight committee would report on how money was spent yearly.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said without a replacement for Measure C, the city could lose millions of dollars for road repair and potentially hundreds of positions.

“If Better Roads Safe Streets doesn’t pass, then it’s not a stop gap, it’s a 10-year solution,” Dyer said.

Perea said without guardrails on spending, there is no guarantee that money will go to roads.

She added that a city measure would undermine any future transportation tax.

“I agree with some of the public speakers that it would undermine a future countywide effort,” Perea said.

Impacts Without Measure C

Dyer said the city will receive $54 million this year from Measure C. Without that money, about 217 employees would be impacted, Dyer said.

That translates to $33 million and 85 positions from the Public Works Department, $19 million and 93 employees from Fresno Area Express, $1.1 million and 39 employees from the Capital Works Department, and $1.1 million from the airport fund.

Over the past four years, Dyer said average pavement conditions went from a “60” rating, called the Pavement Condition Index, to “64.”

Without road funding, Fresno roads would worsen by 3% to 5% a year, dropping back to 60 within two years, Dyer said.

Bus routes and frequency would also be affected. Buses would likely stop running after 8 p.m. and some route frequencies would drop to 45 minutes or 60 minutes from 30 minutes.

City Subsidized County in Measure C

Dyer said questions about return on Measure C revenue come from the revenue-splitting formula used in the tax language.

He said that despite having more than 50% of the population, the city typically got about 40% of revenue. The county’s unincorporated areas, making up 16% of the population, got far more.

The county has often argued that its road miles are much higher than 16%.

Community Members Want Restrictions

Members of the public largely praised the effort but said the city needed restrictions on spending.

Sandra Celedon, executive director of Fresno Building Healthy Communities and member of the Better Roads Safe Streets initiative, said the city should implement the same restrictions as her plan.

That plan allocated 65% of revenue to road repair, 4% to regional transportation projects, 25% to public transit, and 4% to public transit innovation projects.

“There is no guarantee that this money will actually be allocated to what you’re saying that it will,” Celedon said.

Celedon said people are tired of paying “exorbitant” gas prices and want to stop driving cars.