POTENTIAL FUNDING SOURCES FOR GET ABOUT AND CURRENT USAGE Proposition C, Measure R, and Measure M
The City receives other annual funding allocations through Los Angeles County Metro from Proposition C, Measure R, and Measure M.
Proposition C was approved by Los Angeles County voters in November 1990 as a half-cent sales tax to support projects and programs developed with Proposition A funds and, in particular, was to provide funding to help improve and expand the rail system started with Proposition A funds. The City mainly utilizes Proposition C for street projects in transit corridors and is proposing to appropriate approximately $1.3 million to the Garey Avenue Rehabilitation project and $1 million to the Holt West project in FY 2025-26. There is less Proposition C going to CIP next FY due to moving some of the costs of the new bus shelter maintenance contract to Proposition C as Proposition A cannot sustain the full amount, even if Get About was not increasing from last fiscal year.
Measures M and R are widely used for street-related operations and CIP projects. Measure M is a half-cent sales tax measure approved in 2016 to provide funds to ease traffic, repair local streets and sidewalks, expand public transportation, earthquake retrofit bridges and subsidize transit fares for students, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Measure R was approved in 2008 as a half-cent sales tax to finance new transportation projects and programs and accelerate those already in the pipeline.
Measures M and R have been approved by the City to be utilized for both street operations and CIP projects. In FY 2025-26 expects to receive approximately $2.8 million in Measure M and $2.4 million in Measure R. These revenue sources fund programs such as Graffiti Abatement, Street Maintenance, Traffic Paint and Sign, Traffic Signal and Street Light Maintenance, Landscaped Median Maintenance, Street Tree Maintenance. In FY 2025-26, both funds will be additionally funding street maintenance and Street Tree Maintenance as the Gas Tax (another streets funding source) does not provide for enough revenue to fund all of the streets related programs in it. Any revenue left over is allocated to CIP Projects. In Fiscal Year 2025-26, the City is proposing to allocate nearly $2 million of Measures M and R to provide for partial funding for various CIP projects including ADA Path of Travel and Curb Ramps, Safety Improvements at Grade Crossing, Bike Path at San Jose Creek, as match towards the ATTAIN grant the City received, Pomona Multi-Neighborhood Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements, and two new projects related to bicycle and pedestrian safety.
If an additional $1.5 to $2 million is utilized from these funding sources to help fund Get About, there will be very little left to fund capital improvements to the City’s streets. It should be noted that the City’s streets needs far outweigh the funding available.
General Fund as a Potential Funding Source
On February 3, the City provided a presentation of the updated ten-year financial forecast at the City Council meeting. It provided a forecast that took into account the possible effects of the proposed “Pomona Kids First” initiative (Measure Y) and the possible effects of the proposed initiative petition to reduce the Transactions and Use Tax (TUT) rate from 0.75 percent to 0.5 percent. The anticipated effects of both, particularly the effects of Measure Y, are significant, as the City is required to set aside 10 percent of unrestricted general fund to fund Measure Y, resulting in cuts to all General Funded Public Works funding. With these initiatives in place, there is no General Fund available to provide for the increased costs for Get About.
Attachment No. 1