Independent review ensures that OCTA is using funds as promised to voters
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority’s Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 30th annual public hearing to ensure that Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, also known as OC Go, is being delivered as promised to Orange County voters.
This year’s hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8, and will be held via teleconference. The public can listen to a live stream of the hearing and submit comments by visiting octa.net/PublicHearing. Comments will be accepted through 6 p.m. on Friday, June 4.
The independent, 11-member Taxpayer Oversight Committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of Measure M funding, which sets a course for delivering transit and street and freeway improvements, while protecting the environment, through 2041. The committee holds annual public hearings on the expenditure of funds generated by Measure M, which was first approved by voters in 1990 and renewed in 2006.
The original Measure M (1990 – 2010) made possible more than $4 billion of transportation improvements, including improvements to freeways, widened streets, synchronized signals and intersections. It also provided the means for Orange County’s Metrolink commuter-rail service, which continues to be funded by OC Go today.
The current Measure M (2011 – 2041) is committed to delivering a balanced and sustainable transportation system in Orange County and is expected to generate $11.6 billion through 2041. The plan supports two environmental programs and allocates 43 percent of funding to freeways, 32 percent to streets and 25 percent to transit.
The goals include:
- Relieving congestion,
- Maintaining infrastructure,
- Supporting rail and community transit options,
- Synchronizing traffic signals across jurisdictions,
- Reducing transit costs for seniors and people with disabilities,
- Preserving and restoring open land in perpetuity to offset the environmental impacts related to improving the transportation system,
- And reducing transportation-related pollution in Orange County.
For more information on the Taxpayers Oversight Committee, please visit octa.net/TOC.
