Independent committee finds for 31st consecutive year that OCTA is on track with administering half-cent sales tax for transportation
ORANGE – The Measure M Taxpayer Oversight Committee has determined for the 31st consecutive year that the Measure M transportation investment plan is being delivered as promised to the voters of Orange County.
The Taxpayer Oversight Committee held its annual Measure M public hearing Tuesday, June 14, and unanimously found that the Orange County Transportation Authority is proceeding in accordance with the Measure M plan, which was renewed by 70 percent of voters in 2006.
“We appreciate the work that the Taxpayer Oversight Committee does to make sure OCTA is properly administering Measure M funds to improve the lives of our residents,” said OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy, also the Mayor of Orange. “I’m proud to see that for 31 consecutive years now the committee has independently determined those funds are being used as planned.”
The 11-member oversight committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of Measure M funding, approve all changes to the investment plan and hold annual public hearings on whether OCTA has been proceeding in accordance with the plan.
Measure M, or OC Go, will continue funding balanced and sustainable transportation improvements through 2041 with revenues expected to exceed $13 billion. The voter-approved funding plan allocates 43 percent to freeways, 32 percent to streets and roads, 25 percent to transit, and includes two environmental programs.
The original Measure M made possible more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements to help Orange County residents, workers and visitors travel more efficiently throughout all parts of the county.
Since 1990, hundreds of local projects have been completed that help residents travel more easily, including improvements to freeways and streets, synchronized traffic signals and improved intersections. The local sales tax measure also made possible Metrolink commuter-rail service in Orange County.
The freeway program also includes funding for an environmental program that preserves and restores natural habitat and improves water quality.
For more information about Measure M or the Taxpayer Oversight Committee, visit www.octa.net/TOC.
