Local transportation funds.

Existing law requires that 14% of the local sales and use tax be transferred to the local transportation fund of the county for allocation, as directed by the transportation planning agency, to various transportation purposes. Existing law specifies the allowable uses for local transportation funds, and generally requires these funds to be used for transit purposes in urban counties, while in counties with a population under 500,000 as of the 1970 census and certain other counties, these funds may also be used for local streets and roads, if the transportation planning agency finds that there are no unmet transit needs or no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet, and for other specified purposes. This bill, for counties that had a population of less than 500,000 as of the 1970 decennial census, but that have a population of 500,000 or more as of the 2000 decennial census or at a subsequent census, would require the local transportation funds apportioned to the urbanized areas of those counties to generally be allocated for public transit purposes and not for street and road purposes, except that cities in those counties with a population of 100,000 or fewer would be exempt from this requirement. Local transportation funds apportioned to the nonurbanized areas in those counties would remain available for allocation to street and road purposes and for other specified purposes. The bill would delay, until July 1, 2014, the application of these new provisions in counties where they apply. The bill would exempt Ventura County from these provisions and instead authorize the Ventura County Transportation Commission to submit, by December 31, 2011, a report to the Legislature analyzing options for organizing public mass transportation services in the county and for expenditure of revenues in the local transportation fund, along with a recommended legislative proposal. If a legislative proposal is not enacted by the end of the 2011–12 Regular Session of the Legislature, local transportation funds in Ventura County would be available solely for transit purposes beginning July 1, 2014. The bill, in counties and areas of counties where local transportation funds may be allocated to local streets and roads, would also authorize allocation of those funds for specified farmworker vanpool purposes upon a finding by the transportation planning agency that there are no unmet transit needs or no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet and after all of the capital and operating funds necessary to meet unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet are allocated. The bill would make other related changes.