BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1572 (Fletcher) - Service authorities for freeway
emergencies: San Diego County.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: T&H 9-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1572 would dissolve the existing service
authority for freeway emergencies (SAFE) in San Diego County on
January 1, 2013, and transfer responsibility for administering
the program to the San Diego Association of Governments
(SANDAG).
Fiscal Impact:
Redistribution of approximately $8 million in SAFE reserves
to cities and San Diego County in proportion to the amount
of fees paid by vehicle owners in the jurisdiction of each
local agency in 2010-11 (local surcharge revenue).
Moderate state-mandated costs (not reimbursable) to develop
a transition plan, redistribute excess reserve revenues, and
post budget information on the call box fee revenues on a
website (local surcharge revenue).
SANDAG administrative costs of up to $440,000 and
operations costs of up to $700,000 annually, fully covered
by local surcharge revenues, to continue call box and
freeway emergency programs.
Background: Existing law authorizes the governing boards of a
county and a majority of the cities with a majority of the
population in the county to establish a service authority for
freeway emergencies. SAFE programs may be administered either
by a council of governments, a country transportation
commission, or a designated seven-member board comprised of
local officials. Once established, a SAFE may impose a $1
surcharge on the registration of vehicles in the county and use
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the revenues for the implementation, operation, and maintenance
of a system of call boxes on freeways, expressways, county
roads, and state highways. Excess funds may be used to provide
additional motorist aid services, including changeable message
signs, call box lighting, freeway service patrols, and support
for traffic operations centers.
San Diego County was the first county to implement a SAFE. At
its height, the San Diego call box system had almost 1,800 call
boxes on state highways and county roads. Since then, the
number of call boxes in place has declined to approximately
1,240, and the SAFE is considering further reductions that would
bring the total down to 700, due in part to the high cost of
maintaining the call boxes and the drop in motorists' usage of
the call boxes.
SANDAG is the regional transportation planning agency under
state law for San Diego County, and the metropolitan planning
organization for the region under federal law. SANDAG also
manages a local, voter approved half-percent transportation
sales tax. Central to all its activities is the $214 billion
regional transportation plan that it intends to implement
between now and 2050.
Proposed Law: AB 1572 would dissolve the SAFE in San Diego
County on January 1, 2013 and designate SANDAG as the successor
agency to assume responsibility for all operational,
administrative, and maintenance tasks for the callbox system.
During the transition period prior to dissolution, the SAFE
would be required to develop a plan in consultation with SANDAG
to transfer responsibilities and would be prohibited from
expending funds or entering into contracts without SANDAG's
approval. Any reserves in excess of $4 million held by the SAFE
on the dissolution date would be distributed by SANDAG by March
31, 2013 to cities and the county in proportion to the amount of
specified fees paid by residents of each local agency in the
2010-11 fiscal year. Following the transition, SANDAG would be
required to post on its website a detailed budget related to
collection and expenditure of revenues derived from the $1
surcharge on vehicle registrations in San Diego County. The
bill would also authorize SANDAG to continue to fund specified
local helicopter programs.
Staff Comments: The call box vehicle surcharge in San Diego
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County generates approximately $2.7 million annually. In
2011-12, the SAFE spent approximately $441,000 on administration
costs, $411,000 of which went to the contract management
company, while approximately $761,000 was spent on operations
costs and about $2.4 million was set aside for project costs.
Over the years, the SAFE has accumulated unallocated reserves of
approximately $12 million.
This bill is intended to correct perceived problems of
mismanagement of SAFE programs and revenues by dissolving the
current governance structure and transferring responsibility for
administration of the programs and revenues to SANDAG. Naming
the regional transportation planning agency as the successor to
San Diego's SAFE is consistent with how other SAFEs are
administered throughout the state.
AB 1572 would require SANDAG to redistribute approximately $8
million from the existing SAFE reserves to cities and the county
in proportion to the amount of fees paid by residents of each
jurisdiction in 2010-11, and require those funds to be used
consistent with existing law. SANDAG would incur some moderate
costs related to the transition from the existing authority, and
ongoing administrative and operations costs related to managing
the SAFE programs. All costs incurred by SANDAG would be
covered by vehicle surcharge revenues.
Currently, the SAFE spends $750,000 annually on regional
helicopter funding. AB 1572 would authorize SANDAG to continue
to allocate this amount from vehicle registration surcharge
revenues to fund ongoing police, fire, and rescue helicopter
programs.