Transportation funds.

Existing law, pursuant to Article XIXB of the California Constitution, requires a specified portion of the sales tax on gasoline to be transferred from the General Fund to the Transportation Investment Fund for allocation to the state transportation improvement program, city and county streets and roads, and the Public Transportation Account. In order for a city or a county to receive a streets and roads allocation from the Transportation Investment Fund, it is required to annually expend from its general fund for street, road, and highway purposes an amount not less than the annual average of its expenditures from its general fund for those purposes during the 1996–97, 1997–98, and 1998–99 fiscal years. Existing law provides that if a city or county fails to comply with this maintenance of effort requirement in a particular fiscal year, it may alternatively comply by expending in that year and the following fiscal year a combined total amount that is not less than the amount otherwise required to be expended in the 2 fiscal years. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, provide that the County of Fresno would have until June 30, 2015, to meet the maintenance of effort requirement applicable to counties in order to receive a streets and roads allocation from the Transportation Investment Fund for the 2009–10 fiscal year. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Fresno. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.