REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: SCOTT MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
BY: BRIAN E. RUSSELL, Assistant Director
Public Works Department, Streets, Landscape, and Graffiti Divisions
SUBJECT
Title
RESOLUTION - Adopting a list of proposed Public Works projects to receive Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account funding for City Fiscal Year 2024.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Council adopt a resolution approving the list of proposed City of Fresno (City) projects to be submitted to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) for receipt of Senate Bill 1 (SB1) Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) funds for City FY2024.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On March 24, 2021, the CTC adopted revised program reporting guidelines for SB1 funding. The CTC guidelines require that in order to receive funding in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the governing body of a local agency must adopt a resolution with the list of projects proposed for SB1 funds, prior to July 1, 2023. The attached resolution meets CTC’s submission criteria. The recommended projects reflect pavement conditions, traffic studies, leveraging of dollars with grant funding, and significant input from Council district offices. Attached for reference and for consistency with the proposed FY2024 budget is a list of SB1 projects to be carried over from the current fiscal year into FY2024. The revenue figures shown on the attached project list reflect the latest projections from the State of California and League of Cities.
BACKGROUND
On August 15, 2018, the CTC adopted guidelines for SB1 RMRA funding designated for cities and counties. Revised guidelines were adopted by the CTC on March 24, 2021, one significant change being an extension of the due date to July 1st rather than May 1st, allowing cities and counties additional time to submit the project lists each year. Pursuant to the guidelines, a proposed project listing must be submitted to the CTC prior to July 1, 2023, for consideration. The submission must include a resolution of the Council adopting the list, which per the CTC guidelines should be taken as a standalone action and not as a part of the annual budget adoption. The CTC will then adopt a list of cities and counties which have met its guidelines at its August Commission meeting and forward the list to the State Controller, who will in turn release SB1 funds to the appropriate recipients (cities and counties). The attached resolution is, therefore, required for the City to receive SB1 funding for its eligible street projects.
Should the City not adopt a proposed project list via resolution by July 1, 2023, the Controller will retain what would have been the City’s monthly share for a period of 90 days. Should a list not be provided within that time frame, the CTC will reapportion what would have been the City’s share of SB1 funds to other eligible cities and counties. To prevent delays in SB1 projects, staff recommends the project list be adopted by resolution and submitted to the CTC by July 1, 2023.
The CTC only requires cities and counties to submit a resolution of proposed funding for new SB1 revenue in the upcoming fiscal year, and has directed that no unspent carryover funding should be included in that project listing. However, in order to clearly align with the proposed FY2024 budget, staff has also included a separate list of carryover funding from FY2023 to FY2024 for those projects and expenditures which could not be fully completed in FY2023 (see attachment).
SB1 specifies the following eligible uses:
• Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation
• Safety Projects
• Railroad Grade Separations
• Complete Streets Components (including active transportation purposes, pedestrian and bicycle safety projects, transit facilities, and drainage and stormwater capture projects in conjunction with any other allowable project)
• Traffic Control Devices
Further, Streets & Highways Code Section 2030(b)(2) states that funds made available by the RMRA program may also be used to satisfy a match requirement in order to obtain State or Federal funds, provided that the projects fall into the eligible SB1 categories.
The Public Works Department utilizes a pavement management system for the City’s 1,700 centerline-miles to evaluate the condition of the street network and to recommend pavement treatments. Streets are rated using an industry-standard pavement condition index (PCI) ranging from 0 to 100, with zero being a pothole-riddled crumbling street and 100 being a newly surfaced roadway. A PCI score of 80-100 is rated as “very good-excellent”, 70-79 as “good”, 60-69 as “fair”, 50-59 as “at-risk”, 25-49 as “poor” and 0-24 as “failed.” Based upon PCI ratings and field observations by trained engineering and maintenance professionals, projects are recommended including slurry seals, grinding and overlays, as well as total reconstruction. The City’s overall PCI has been in steady decline in recent years due to insufficient funding for street maintenance. In 2008, the overall PCI was estimated at 72, but the average was somewhat inflated due to the building boom and relatively large amount of new street mileage in residential subdivisions. By 2013, the average PCI had declined to 68. Staff made a presentation to the Council on February 17, 2022, to share the results of the Citywide Pavement Management Program update completed by NCE Consulting. The current average PCI has declined to 60, at the border of “fair” and “at-risk,” having been an average level of “good” only 14 years earlier.
The adoption of the resolution will not limit or reduce future Council authority to appropriate funding for projects each year in the City budget, in accordance with the Charter, but rather will comply with State requirements to become eligible for receipt of funds. Per the CTC’s adopted guidelines, the project list does not limit the flexibility of an eligible city or county to fund projects in accordance with local needs and priorities, so long as the projects are consistent with SB1 RMRA priorities.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 this is not approval of a “project” for purposes of CEQA.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented as this does involve the bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adoption of the attached resolution will not impact the General Fund. Project costs would be paid for from SB1 funds and funds appropriated by the Council in the adopted budget.
Attachment(s):
Resolution
SB1 Project List for FY2024
Carryover Projects from FY2023 to FY2024
SB1 RMRA Annual Reporting Guidelines