BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 286
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: b.
berryhill
VERSION: 4/27/11
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 14, 2011
SUBJECT:
State highways: Routes 108 and 120
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the California Transportation Commission to
program funds received from the sale of excess properties in the
State Route (SR) 120 corridor for improvements to the SR 108
corridor.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law authorizes the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) to acquire properties for
transportation projects or operational needs such as a
maintenance station. Occasionally a property becomes "excess;"
for example, when Caltrans determines that the property is no
longer necessary for a project or operational need or when an
anticipated funding source fails to materialize. In such cases,
Caltrans sells the excess properties, either at auction or to an
adjoining owner or other public agency.
Existing law requires Caltrans, upon selling excess properties,
to deposit the proceeds into the State Highway Account.
Customarily, these funds would be available for allocation by
the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to highway
programs and projects throughout the state. Budget trailer
legislation enacted in March, however, altered this practice.
AB 105 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 6, Statutes of 2011)
requires the State Controller temporarily to transfer all funds
not protected by Article X1X of the State Constitution, from the
State Highway Account to the Transportation Debt Service Fund in
the State Transportation Fund. This legislation provides relief
to the General Fund, from which the state has historically paid
debt service on transportation-related general obligation bonds.
Thus, until July 1, 2013, proceeds from all sales of Caltrans
AB 286 (B. BERRYHILL) Page 2
excess properties are now statutorily directed to repayment of
bonds rather than being available for allocation to future
projects.
Existing law designates the CTC as the entity responsible for
programming and allocating funds for highway, passenger rail,
and transit improvement projects throughout the state. This is
done primarily through the State Transportation Improvement
Program (STIP) and State Highway Operations and Protection
Program (SHOPP). The CTC also allocates funds from general
obligation bonds, such as Proposition 1B, the Safety, Traffic
Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006. The
regional transportation planning agencies program 75 percent of
the STIP revenues that fund projects to increase highway
capacity within their regions, and Caltrans programs the
remaining 25 percent for interregional projects. Both the
regional agencies and Caltrans submit their respective programs
to the CTC for inclusion in the STIP; the CTC distributes STIP
funds to the counties based on a set of statutory formulas.
This bill :
Requires Caltrans to deposit proceeds from the sale, on
or after July 1, 2013, of excess properties it acquired for
improvements to the SR 120 corridor in Stanislaus County
into a special account created by the bill.
Requires interest earnings from funds in the special
account to accrue to the account.
Requires the CTC to program the funds in the special
account to any phase of the North County Corridor of SR 108
in Stanislaus County.
Allows the CTC to allocate the funds, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to the Stanislaus Council of
Governments (Stan COG) or any agency designated by Stan COG
to deliver the North County Corridor.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose . According to the author, Caltrans purchased
large amounts of property in northern Stanislaus County to
construct the SR 120 bypass around the City of Oakdale but
never built the facilities. Caltrans expects to declare
this property surplus and is currently working with Stan
AB 286 (B. BERRYHILL) Page 3
COG, Stanislaus County, and the City of Oakdale to plan for
the sale of these properties. An alternative to the
defunct Oakdale bypass project, known as North County
Corridor, is being pursued by Caltrans and a joint powers
authority comprised of the City of Modesto, City of
Oakdale, City of Riverbank, County of Stanislaus, Stan COG,
and Caltrans. This bill would ensure that funding is
provided for this alternative project by directing the
proceeds from the sale of SR 120 lands to the North County
Corridor.
2. An Exception to the Rule . As noted above, proceeds from
the sale of Caltrans excess properties are customarily
deposited into the State Highway Account, where they are
available for programming by the CTC, Caltrans, and the
regions. This bill would remove the flexibility to program
these funds through existing formulas. By doing so, the
bill would ensure that the funds are spent in the same
county for which they were originally intended.
3. Keeping a Promise . The CTC adopted a northern corridor
expressway, the SR 120 Oakdale Bypass, in 2002. As traffic
patterns changed over time, Caltrans has worked with local
entities to develop a northern corridor alternative. The
CTC redirected the Oakdale Bypass funds in the 2008 STIP
with the understanding that these funds would be restored
to a viable replacement project in the future. The current
(2010) STIP, however, lacked sufficient capacity to program
the project. In May 2010, the CTC approved the SR 108
route and in the STIP continued its commitment to fund the
project in the future.
4. Related legislation . AB 1386 (Hayashi), Chapter 291,
Statutes of 2009, requires Caltrans to deposit proceeds
from the sale of excess properties in the SR 238 and SB 84
corridors in Alameda County into a special account. AB
1386 requires the CTC to allocate funds from this special
account to the SR 238 and SB 84 local alternative
transportation improvement programs.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 75-0
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 14-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
AB 286 (B. BERRYHILL) Page 4
Wednesday,
June 8, 2011 )
SUPPORT: Stanislaus County (sponsor)
City of Riverbank
City of Oakdale
Tuolumne County Transportation Council
OPPOSED: None received.