ADOPT Resolution 2019-02 apportioning $18,000,000 in Fiscal Year 2019-20 Local Transportation Funds to Monterey-Salinas Transit and TAMC, as specified.

Staff estimates a total of $18,000,000 in Local Transportation Fund revenues will be available for eligible uses in Fiscal Year 2019-20. This represents a 9% increase over the Agency's Fiscal Year 2018-19 $16,500,000 estimate. Staff has based its estimate on the annual analysis of sales tax deposits prepared by the Monterey County Controller.

According to the adopted formula, the proposed allocation is: 

- $16,749,685 to Monterey-Salinas Transit, for public transit services; 

- $908,485 to TAMC for administration and transportation planning activities;

- $341,830 to TAMC for its TDA 2% bike/pedestrian facilities competitive fund.  

The State of California created the Local Transportation Fund in 1971 with the passage of the Transportation Development Act. The State Board of Equalization returns to the County one quarter of a percent of the retail sales tax collected in Monterey County for allocation by the Transportation Agency to member jurisdictions for the following eligible uses in the priority order described below:

1. fund administration
2. transportation planning
3. pedestrian and bicycle facilities
4. rail passenger service
5. public transit
6. special group transportation service
7. repair, maintenance, and construction of local streets and roads.

The Monterey County Auditor-Controller retains the Local Transportation Funds in a trust fund, pays claims and deposits monthly sales tax revenue from the State based on direction from the Transportation Agency. The Agency's responsibilities as the Local Transportation Fund administrator include notifying the jurisdictions of the funds available, approving annual fund allocations, processing claims, submitting an annual financial audit to the state, and submitting a performance audit of transit operations and the Agency's administrative functions on a triennial basis. 

The Transportation Agency is required to estimate and apportion Local Transportation Funds every February by resolution. Apportionments for Fiscal Year 2019-20 are identified in Resolution 2019-02, which is included as an attachment. The Agency first apportions Local Transportation Funds for administration, planning and programming from the total estimate pursuant to the Transportation Development Act and the Agency's bylaws. These funds are included in the Agency's annual operating budget. 

Article 3 of the Transportation Development Act next directs the Agency to apportion 2% of the estimated fund total for countywide bicycle and pedestrian projects. The Agency typically allocated funding through the TDA 2% program in three-year cycles. Allocation recommendations for the TDA 2% funds will be brought back to the Board of Directors at a future meeting. 

The remaining funding is apportioned to member jurisdictions based on population, as reported by the Department of Finance. Monterey County cities allocate their apportionments to support Monterey-Salinas Transit pursuant to California Assembly Bill 644, which established the countywide district effective July 1, 2010. This legislation also directs the Agency to apportion funds to MST based on the percentage of the County population residing within 3/4 mile of MST fixed routes. The unmet needs finding adopted by the Board in 2010 allowed MST to claim all available funds to support public transit operations as an unmet need. 

Now that all available funds support public transit, the Agency is no longer required to adopt a finding on unmet transit needs. Instead, the Agency collects comments on unmet transit needs and seeks input from the MST Mobility Advisory Committee, the designated Social Services Advisory Council. The process now serves as a public input tool for MST's short and long-term transit service planning and improvements. The Board will receive the final list of unmet transit needs comments in June prior to making allocations for the beginning of the 2019/20 fiscal year.