Half-cent sales tax is driving force behind local transportation improvements
Jan. 28, 2011
ORANGE – The Measure M Taxpayers Oversight Committee (TOC) is conducting its 20th annual public hearing on Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements approved by voters in 1990 and renewed in 2006. Measure M is administered by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).
The hearing is set for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 8 at OCTA headquarters, 600 S. Main St. in Orange.
The independent, 11-member oversight committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of Measure M funding, approve all changes to the Measure M plan and hold annual public hearings on the expenditure of funds generated by Measure M.
By March 2011, Measure M will have made possible more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements. Hundreds of local projects that impact residents every day have been completed. This includes improvements to nearly every freeway in the county, widening streets, signal coordination and intersection improvements. Measure M also made possible Metrolink commuter-rail service in Orange County.
Orange County voters renewed Measure M in November 2006 by a vote of nearly 70 percent. An Early Action Plan was created to begin delivering transportation improvements before M2 begins in April 2011.
To take a survey about Measure M and offer feedback, go to www.octa.net/toc_mpublichearing.
