A County Freeway Authority

When Orange County voters roundly rejected Proposition A two years ago, transportation officials got two messages. Voters wanted the county’s freeway system improved to ease the growing traffic congestion that has now become a virtual daylong problem. That desire has been confirmed in several surveys since the June, 1984, election. But they didn’t want to pay more local taxes to reach that end. If James Roosevelt has his way, they won’t have to.

Roosevelt, a member of the the county Transportation Commission, is urging the creation of a new Orange County freeway authority to raise revenues to fund needed but under-financed freeway projects.

If the authority were created it would be the first of its kind in the state and possibly the nation. The approach certainly follows the road that voters seemed to be telling transportation officials they want them to take, making better use of resources already available.

Instead of levying new taxes, the authority would get a share of the increased property taxes generated by the growth of the county’s assessed valuation, money that now largely goes to redevelopment agencies. That money, about $25 million a year, would be added to what the state spends in freeway projects in Orange County each year, also about $25 million. All of it would be used to build new lanes on existing freeways.

The local funds could even help attract more state dollars because counties that go to the trouble of setting aside more local funds for freeways improve their chances of getting more matching state money. And even if more state funds are not available, the local effort could give the county a higher priority with the state Transportation Commission in its freeway project allocations.

One potential local problem is that the money that goes to the authority would not be going to other agencies that now share the increased revenues each year. That amounts to a reordering of spending priorities, which might generate opposition from some taxing entities not anxious to lose increased funding to a new agency.

A good case, however, could be made for that added emphasis on transportation because new growth that generates most of the higher property valuations, and thus more tax revenues, also usually generates more traffic.

So it seems only fair to use some of that money to help ease the traffic load, especially when doing so could also improve property values, and thus provide more income for other agencies to help offset the money going to the transit authority.

A staff report is due Monday on the proposal. It will explore options, including whether the commission should seek a special election in November to create the authority or form a special district, which could go to voters for their approval next year. The approach deserves serious study and full public review.

The authority would not be a cure-all for the county’s transportation ills. But it appears to be much more than a Band-Aid approach. It’s innovative--and could be one of the several alternatives the commission must find to realistically deal with Orange County’s growing freeway problems.