BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 286
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 1011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 286 (Bill Berryhill) - As Amended: March 25, 2011
SUBJECT : Stanislaus North County Corridor
SUMMARY : Dedicates funds from the sale of properties on one
corridor in Stanislaus County for use on another in that county.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires proceeds from the sale of excess properties acquired
by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for
improvements to State Route (SR) 120 to be used for
improvements to SR 108 in Stanislaus County, the North County
Corridor (NCC).
2)Requires Caltrans to deposit the sale proceeds in a special
account, which the bill creates, in the Special Deposit Fund.
3)Requires interest earnings from funds in that special account
to accrue to the account.
4)Requires the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to
program the funds in the special account to any phase of the
NCC.
5)Allows the CTC to allocate the funds, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, to the Stanislaus Council of Governments
(StanCOG) or any agency designated by StanCOG to deliver the
NCC.
6)Provides that the funds in the special account are not
continuously appropriated.
EXISTING LAW : Returns the proceeds from the sale of excess
Caltrans properties to the State Highway Account, effective July
1, 2013, from where they will become available upon
appropriation for state highway programs and projects throughout
the state. Until that time, however, those funds must be
transferred by the Controller to the Transportation Debt Service
Fund in the State Transportation Fund, for repayment of
transportation bonds that would otherwise be the responsibility
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of the General Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author reports that Caltrans purchased large
amounts of property in northern Stanislaus County, with the
intent of constructing a bypass for SR 120 around the City of
Oakdale, but never was able to undertake the project. These
properties are now deemed to be excess and Caltrans is working
with StanCOG, Stanislaus County and the City of Oakdale to plan
for their sale. The NCC, an interregional alternative to the
dropped Oakdale bypass project, is currently being pursued
together by Caltrans and a Joint Powers Authority whose members
consist of the Cities of Modesto, Oakdale and Riverbank,
Stanislaus County, StanCOG and Caltrans. Proceeds from the
eventual sale of the parcels are intended to be used to fund the
NCC.
According to the author, "This bill establishes an accounting
mechanism to ensure that the proceeds from the sale of surplus
properties purchased for the Oakdale Bypass project in the SR
120 corridor can be tracked. By facilitating the reuse of the
funding from the sale of excess properties in this corridor for
a similar project whose benefit includes that addressed by the
original need of the Oakdale bypass, this bill will ensure that
the transportation needs originally envisioned by Caltrans and
the local agencies (will) be met."
As explained by supporters, "North County Corridor is a
significant transportation project for the County, and the
entire Stanislaus region. The County will greatly benefit from
the safety enhancements and congestion relief provide by the NCC
project by providing an east-west expressway from State Route 99
to State Route 120 east of the city of Oakdale. The County also
recognizes the North County Corridor's importance for the goods
movement and the economic development of our region."
The CTC supported the substitution of the NCC project for the
abandoned Oakdale Bypass project in its adoption of the 2008
State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), resolving,
"While the Commission is deleting all programming for the Route
120 Oakdale Bypass in the 2008 STIP, as proposed in the ITIP,
the Commission supports the Department's commitment to the
development and delivery of the NCC project identified by
StanCOG as an alternative to the Route 120 Oakdale Bypass."
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It is not unusual for a county in which a state transportation
project has been dropped to pursue retention of funds from that
project for use on other transportation projects in the county.
From the standpoint of logic and equity, this may make perfect
sense. In the current fiscal climate however, when every
available resource is being targeted for General Fund relief,
such a proposal may fall victim to the ongoing budget crisis.
Related legislation : AB 1386 (Hayashi), Chapter 291, Statutes
of 2009, requires Caltrans to deposit proceeds from the sale of
excess properties in the SR 84 and 238 corridors into a special
fund to be used for expenditures for the SR 84 and SR 238 local
alternative transportation improvement programs (LATIPs).
The statutory provision requiring the proceeds from surplus
property sales to accrue for the next two years to the
Transportation Debt Service Fund was contained in AB 105 (Budget
Committee), Chapter 6, Statutes of 2011.
Author's amendments : To address the concern over the diversion
of resources from the Transportation Debt Service Fund, the
author proposes amending the bill so that it would apply only to
property sales that are completed on or after July 1, 2013, at
which time current law would otherwise require property sales
proceeds to be returned to the State Highway Account.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City of Oakdale
City of Riverbank
Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors
Tuolumne County Transportation Council
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
AB 286
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