Fresno council endorses one of two rival transportation tax plans. See the details
The Fresno City Council unanimously endorsed one of two competing transportation sales tax plans on the November ballot to replace the county’s expiring Measure C
The council voted 7-0 on the consent agenda to formally support the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative at Thursday’s meeting, which aims to use tax revenue to fund transportation and infrastructure across Fresno County.
It’s the front-running proposal led by a coalition of Fresno County mayors, nonprofits and transportation advocates that rivals the Fix Our Roads plan backed by a separate group of elected officials, labor representatives and transportation experts.
The two plans share a key difference: Better Roads, Safe Streets is a 30-year plan instead of a 20-year plan, and more of the Fix Our Roads funds would be allocated to fixing and building local roads versus public transportation.
Fresno joined the city councils of Mendota, Parlier and Huron in formally supporting Better Roads, Safe Streets. The resolution was brought forward at Thursday’s council meeting by Councilmembers Nick Richardson, Tyler Maxwell, Miguel Arias and Mayor Jerry Dyer, who hosted a news conference prior to the vote.
“Every city in the county has more roads than they have money to fix,” Arias said. “That’s why Fresno today will join the majority of our cities in the county to support this measure. Because it brings back billions of dollars of our local tax money to our local neighborhoods.”
Maxwell said it took him his entire first term to save up the millions of dollars needed to pave just one neighborhood in central Fresno, because none of the city’s general fund dollars are dedicated to these kinds of projects.
“That is not acceptable,” Maxwell said. “We need a real solution, and we need one now. This measure will allow us to take the tax dollars that we’ve been spending and putting them where we want them the most, in our neighborhoods.”
Arias said without the measure, funds would have to be pulled from police or fire for things like road and sidewalk repairs.
Fresno County taxpayers have paid billions in dedicated sales taxes — 0.5 cents on every purchase — for the past 40 years through Measure C to pay for county transportation. It was first passed by voters in 1986, renewed in 2006, and is set to expire in 2027.
With a looming expiration date, leaders across the county have been debating the best move forward for years. The last formal effort to renew Measure C failed in 2022, which critics say focused too much on regional highways and was created with little public input.
The Better Roads, Safe Streets plan would deliver an estimated $7.4 billion over 30 years, with 65% of the funds going into local streets and 25% into public transportation. These percentages match a plan that a county steering committee and a majority of Fresno County mayors, including Dyer, gave their blessing to last year.
However, not everyone agreed with the funding plan, including Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who says not enough of the funds are dedicated to fixing local roads, and too much funding is allocated to public transportation.
The Better Roads, Safe Streets campaign submitted roughly 32,500 signatures in April, but did not pass a random sample test by the Fresno County Clerk’s Office.
Now, the office must validate nearly 22,000 of them before making a stop at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to qualify for the ballot.
“I’m very, very confident, based on information that we have received, that this measure will qualify for the November ballot,” Dyer said. “It’s our attempt to go before the Board of Supervisors in late July or mid-August at the latest to get this put on the ballot.”
How will the funds be used in each plan?
The Better Roads, Safe Streets $7.4 billion 30-year plan:
- 65% to existing neighborhood roads.
- 25% to public transportation.
- 5% to regional connectivity.
- 4% to access and innovation.
- 1% to administration and oversight.
The Fix Our Roads $3.9 billion 20-year plan:
- 82% to local roads, including:
- 50% to direct road repair.
- 16% to flexible funding for cities.
- 16% to major streets and highways/congestion relief.
- 18% to public transportation, including:
- 12.53% to Fresno Area Express.
- 3.58% to rural transit.
- 1.79% to Clovis transit.
- 0.1% to a reimagine transit study.