Initiative Would Use Auto Tax to Ease Traffic

An environmental coalition said Thursday that it will propose an initiative that would designate 30% of the state’s share of vehicle sales-tax revenue for projects to relieve traffic congestion.

The proposal by the Planning and Conservation League, a Sacramento-based group, would earmark $810 million annually for road improvements, rail and bus services, transportation programs for seniors, children and the disabled, as well as environmental projects.

Irvine’s Great Park plan for the former El Toro Marine base and improvements to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco would qualify for such funds, officials said.

“The governor and the Legislature made a list of the state’s most critical traffic congestion relief projects, and there are 159 of them,” said Jerry Meral, executive director of the conservation league. “There isn’t enough money to complete all these projects, so we are using this initiative to make sure those and other projects are completed.”

Meral said the initiative is still being drafted.

The Traffic Congestion Relief Act would use money that otherwise would go into the state’s general fund, Meral said. The portion designated for environmental improvements would offset the effects of new transportation projects. The group has yet to submit the initiative to the state attorney general’s office for review but hopes to put the measure on the November 2002 ballot, Meral said.

The conservation league is a coalition that includes such environmental groups as Heal the Bay, the National Wildlife Federation and the National Audubon Society.

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, who is on the league’s board of directors, said his city stands to benefit greatly from the initiative.

About $300 million would go to Irvine over 13 years to fund these projects: shuttle service linking the Irvine Transit Center with Ontario International, John Wayne, Los Angeles International and other airports; street and intersection improvements near the Costa Mesa Freeway and the Irvine Business Center; and $130 million for the Great Park, the city’s alternative to an international airport at the closed Marine air base.

Agran freely admits being an advocate for his city but says it makes sense to allocate a significant portion of income from the state Traffic Congestion Relief Act to Irvine.

“We are the geographic center of transportation congestion for the county,” he said. “We have very, very major infrastructure problems, and that’s where the dollars ought to be spent.”

Advocates of an airport at El Toro were skeptical.

“I think this is a giant pork-barrel initiative designed to put a smoke screen on the fact that Larry Agran cannot fund the Great Park without a tax increase,” said Dave Ellis, a consultant for the Airport Working Group.

“All this is a reallocation of existing resources. If this is successful, I think you’re going to see a sales tax increase on new cars, because they’re going to have to backfill for this money.”

League officials say the initiative includes a provision that would allow the money to return to the general fund if the state experiences a budget crisis.

If the conservation league succeeds in placing its initiative on the ballot, it would be the second measure to seek transportation money from state tax revenue. In March, voters will be asked to approve a plan backed by Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature to use gasoline sales tax for transportation projects rather than as general revenue.