O.C. Economy to Get a Measure M Jump-Start : Transportation: More than $100 million in tax revenue will be spent this year on road and rail projects.

After 17 months of court delays, transportation officials Monday voted to pump more than $100 million in Measure M tax revenues into Orange County’s ailing economy by purchasing property for highway expansions and financing local street improvements.

Although not the first use of Measure M receipts, OCTA’s decision is the most ambitious effort yet, with $80.6 million to be spent within the next 10 weeks.

The big recipient is the massive Santa Ana Freeway widening project, which is already under construction through Irvine and Santa Ana and will get $40 million for purchase of right of way in Anaheim by July and another $45 million later in the year.

About $31 million will be returned to cities that qualify for their share of Measure M proceeds under a plan approved by voters in November, 1990. Another $4.7 million will be available to cities under a separate program.

In addition, $11.7 million will be spent on commuter trains which ply the same Orange County-to-Los Angeles tracks used by Amtrak. Later in the year, $25.1 million will be spent on Orange County’s share of the Santa Fe Railway right of way between Oceanside and Los Angeles.

All told, Measure M spending could top $184.4 million by year’s end, officials said, but that would entail selling revenue bonds later in the year as the need for cash to pay for projects outstrips the $10 million per month the measure generates in tax receipts.

The 11-member Orange County Transportation Authority board agreed that it was more important to create new jobs with the money than to stockpile the funds pending the outcome of further legal maneuvers by opponents of the half-cent, countywide sales tax reserved for highway and transit projects.

Officials said Monday that they expect money paid to property owners for road rights of way will be reinvested in the local economy and produce jobs. They could not, however, estimate how many job would result.

Measure M opponents--including Drivers for Highway Safety, Citizens Against Unfair Taxation and the Libertarian Central Committee of Orange County--have lost four lower court decisions but plan to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs contend, among other arguments, that Measure M should be nullified because it passed with only a majority instead of a two-thirds vote.

Bill Ward of the drivers’ group, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging Measure M, said Monday’s OCTA decision “is the Woody Allen approach--take the money and run.” He said the OCTA board may be showing a lack of confidence in its court stance by emptying the coffers now so there will be no money to return to anyone.

The Transportation Authority’s attorneys say that since no court has ordered an embargo of Measure M proceeds, the agency will not have to return the money to anyone if opponents ultimately prevail in court.

“We have an 8% unemployment rate in this county,” said OCTA board member Dana W. Reed, a Costa Mesa lawyer. “We have people whose unemployment benefits have either run out or are about to run out, and this is actually a jobs bill as well as everything else.”

The stockpiled funds are sitting in a New York bank “not doing us any good at all,” Reed added.

Westminster Mayor Charles V. Smith chimed in: “It’s unfair to the people of Orange County to hold off any longer.”

San Juan Capistrano Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer said: “Through all this time, Measure M has never lost its public support.”

Before Monday’s decision to spend Measure M dollars, OCTA had borrowed $49.3 million against Measure M proceeds.

Meanwhile, OCTA used the borrowed funds for several Measure M projects: purchase of the old Pacific Electric “Red Car” right of way from Stanton to the Los Angeles County line; design work for reconstruction of the Sana Ana-San Diego freeway interchange known as the El Toro Y; right-of-way purchase for the expansion of Beach Boulevard; and car-pool lanes on the Orange Freeway, due to open next month.

Stanley T. Oftelie, Transportation Authority chief executive officer, had given the board three options Monday: put the money in escrow until all legal threats are removed, spend only on those projects for which backup funding is available in case OCTA loses in court or spend all of the money as quickly as possible.

Oftelie’s goal has been to keep a diverse assortment of Measure M projects on schedule rather than dump all of the money into one big item such as the Santa Ana Freeway, and the board agreed with him. He reasoned that the philosophy keeps faith with the voters, who approved a Measure M spending plan that splits tax proceeds among distinct categories such as highway expansions and commuter rail.

Eager to speed work along, OCTA has put a priority on projects ready for funding, as opposed to those for which only feasibility studies are under way, such as the proposed elevated urban rail or monorail system scheduled for construction in the second 10 years of Measure M’s 20-year plan.

Just where the Measure M money designated for use by individual cities will end up remains unclear. To date, only Santa Ana, Fullerton and the county have qualified for Measure M receipts for local street improvements.

Doling Out Measure M Dollars

The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday approved funding for several major projects in the county. More than $180 million in Measure M sales tax revenues could be spent by the end of the year.

1) Riverside Freeway: $2.5 million for expansion design work.

2) Beach Boulevard: $8 million to acquire right of way for “super-street” project.

3) North Santa Ana Freeway: $85 million--the largest share of Measure M funds this year--to acquire right of way for expansion.

4) El Toro Y: $8.5 million to acquire right of way for interchange expansion and reconstruction.

5) South Santa Ana Freeway: $500,000 to acquire right of way.

Rail

* $11.7 million to buy commuter trains for the San Juan Capistrano-Los Angeles route.

* $25.1 million to acquire Santa Fe Railway right of way.

* $500,000 for a study of local urban rail.

Cities

* $35.7 million to county cities for various local projects.

Other Allocations

Loan Repayment--$3.7 million for a rail maintenance facility.

Bus Fares--$2 million to subsidize senior and disabled fares.

Election Costs--$700,000 to county registrar of voters for November, 1990, election.

Freeways--$500,000 to design Costa Mesa Freeway expansion from 17th Street to Garden Grove Freeway; $50,000 for landscaping on the Orange Freeway.

Source: Orange County Transportation Authority