O.C. Officials Pondering a Sequel to Tax Measure

It’s been billed as the first countywide tax increase passed since the Eisenhower administration--a half-cent sales surcharge that has generated a whopping $1.6 billion in transportation revenue and fueled the largest overhaul of roads and freeways in Orange County history.

Since it was passed 10 years ago, Measure M has helped straighten out the infamous El Toro Y, built carpool-lane flyovers that seem to scrape the skies, unsnarled traffic along bustling Harbor Boulevard and vastly increased the capacity of the jammed Santa Ana Freeway--Orange County’s Main Street. Now, as the measure enters the second half of its 20-year life span, officials say the tax needs to be extended beyond 2010 to truly improve the system and keep pace with the county’s growing population.

Although county transportation officials have yet to mount a formal campaign for such a tax sequel, a report released recently by the Southern California Association of Governments urged voters to renew transportation sales taxes in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

In Orange County, efforts to renew the tax will likely encounter heated opposition from slow-growth advocates and conservative spenders--groups that battled the tax a decade ago. A reauthorization effort will also draw attention to how the program is administered in the next 10 years, particularly to a controversial proposal to build a $2.3-billion light-rail system through the heart of the county.

As a result, officials are proceeding cautiously. “We’ve got 10 years left, so it’s not like we’ve got to pull a trigger real quick,” said George Urch, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Among the projects expected to be rolled out in the coming decade are several mass transportation initiatives: an expansion of the county’s bus system, the addition of new Metrolink cars and stations and the laying of the first ties for the so-called CenterLine light rail line.

Nevertheless, already-sluggish traffic along major county freeways could actually worsen in the next decade with the population projected to swell by a quarter-million residents. Entire countywide stretches of the San Diego, Artesia and Riverside freeways have earned a grade of F for service during rush hour, according to a 1999 traffic-congestion report.

Measure M directs a certain percentage of revenue to specific projects, which has hampered efforts to address some freeway difficulties. Of the total $3.2 billion that Measure M is expected to raise, 43% is earmarked for freeway projects, 11% for regional streets and roads, 21% for local streets and roads and 25% for mass-transit projects.

Officials admit that any attempt to renew the tax will likely be an uphill struggle. Two similar tax measures were defeated before voters finally approved Measure M in 1990. This time around though, the measure faces longer odds. State law now requires two-thirds voter approval instead of a simple majority. Measure M passed with 55% of the vote.

Polls conducted by the Orange County Transportation Authority show the level of support for reauthorization stands at roughly 59%. Officials have lobbied the legislature for a change in the law, but without success.

“It will be a real challenge to pass it,” said OCTA chairwoman Laurann Cook. “But there are still things that need to be accomplished. There’s still going to be a lot of growth in Orange County and we need to respond to that.”

Renewal of the tax will draw fire from very different political camps.

Some critics, though pleased with improved traffic flow, say the sales tax is unfair and that OCTA’s push to build the CenterLine system is misguided. “It’s an obscene waste of money,” said Jack Mallinckrodt of the group Drivers for Highway Safety. “Light rail is going to reduce traffic less than 1%, yet it costs 50 to 100 times more per mile than building roads. That’s obscene.”

At the opposite end of the spectrum, environmentalists complain that OCTA has done too little to improve mass transit, and say the light-rail system should be far larger than what is proposed.

“They tout Measure M as money for public transportation, but that’s a joke,” said Mark Babski, of the Stop The Toll Road Coalition--an organization of environmental groups that opposes construction of the planned Foothill South Toll Road. “That money is just going to the altar of the automobile. It’s an environmental disaster.”

Babski argues that Measure M has irreparably harmed the environment because expanded roads and freeways have increased air pollution and compounded the toxic runoff of automobile debris, with such things as brake dust and coolant winding up in local waters.

Still, the tax measure does have its fans, most notably, Wall Street. In October, Moody’s Investor Service gave the Measure M bonds the highest rating of all transportation bonds in the nation. Among other factors, the bond-rating service cited OCTA’s ability to complete projects on time and within budget, as well as a vibrant local economy.

Orange County businesses too have voiced support for the tax measure, saying it has done much to streamline traffic. “There’s been a big, measurable change,” said Michael Metzler, president and CEO of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce. “Before, congestion brought deep costs, whether it was employees who couldn’t get to work on time or a business owner’s own travel.”

Officials say improved travel times have not been lost on commuters, either.

“People would be sitting in gridlock much more often than they are today if Measure M was never passed,” said county supervisor and OCTA member Tom Wilson.