What's at stake:
Vital funds for countywide transportation needs including road and sidewalk repair.
The Fresno City Council put their full support behind the Better Roads Safe Streets initiative, which seeks to use sales tax revenue to fund transportation needs and infrastructure.
The council unanimously approved a resolution to support the tax initiative.
“Almost two thirds of all of the money will be dedicated to fixing our local roads, and that includes our alleyways, our sidewalks, median islands, and a number of other things,” Mayor Jerry Dyer said at a Thursday news conference. “And again, it’s not just the city of Fresno measure, it is a Fresno County measure.”
Fresno will expect at least $7.3 million annually for transportation infrastructure, city leaders said at the news conference. The funds are vital, because without it, city leaders said funds may have to be pulled from other city departments to handle everything from road repairs to sidewalk improvements.
Councilmember Miguel Arias said that could mean pulling money away from police, fire and parks. He, along with councilmembers Tyler Maxwell and Nick Richardson, spoke in favor of the tax initiative, too.
“We need a real solution and we need one now, which is what this measure proposes to do,” Maxwell said at the news conference. “Complete streets for all of our neighborhoods, no longer having to wait a generation or two to get your street paved, the potholes fixed, the sidewalks level, the trees trim, or new trees planted.”
Funding for the entire county’s transportation needs are on the line as Fresno County elections officials tally up and verify signatures gathered to place the Better Roads Safe Streets tax initiative on the ballot. If it gets on the ballot and is approved by voters, it would renew an already existing transportation sales tax, not add any new taxes on top of it.
“I’m very, very confident, based on information that we have received, that this measure will qualify for the November ballot,” Dyer said at the news conference. “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.”
Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus told Fresnoland he does not currently have an estimate for when exactly his office will complete verifying signatures for the tax initiative to end up on the ballot.
However, he did confirm that the goal is for his office to get it done before the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 14.
“We are required to complete the signature review by August 18,” Kus told Fresnoland. “We hope to complete the review in time for the Board of Supervisors meeting on July 14. As the June Primary Election winds down, we will adjust resources to facilitate that intent.”
