Carpinteria to mull over potential tax loss

ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

With the sunset of the Measure D sales tax fast approaching, Carpinteria city leaders will hear a report on how that potential loss of revenue will affect their coastal town at the Carpinteria City Council meeting this evening.
Unless Santa Barbara County voters renew the half-cent sales tax levied for local and regional transportation projects in November 2008, the city of Carpinteria stands to lose about $800,000 annually that historically has provided a large chunk of funding for street operation and maintenance.

"Measure D revenue has allowed the city to adequately maintain streets, sidewalks, bike paths, storm drains and parkway landscaping," Carpinteria Public Works Director Dale E. Lipp said in a staff report. "Without the revenue, such maintenance would, roughly, be cut in half."
A ballot measure aimed at extending Measure D for another 30 years failed in November 2006, partly due to the fact that it increased the sales tax to 0.75 percent. The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is currently drafting an outline of how revenues generated by the measure — which has been revised back to a half-cent sales tax — will be spent if voters give it the nod in 2008.
In addition to street maintenance, funds from Measure D have also been used in many capital projects in Carpinteria that include intersection widening, median improvements, bicycle and railroad crossings, and beach area drainage improvements.
In 2006, the city spent $588,000 in Measure D revenue on operations and maintenance, $120,000 on capital projects and $88,000 on transit. A key area pointed out by Lipp is the potential impact on the pavement condition of Carpinteria's streets.
"Measure D has allowed the city to maintain local streets at acceptable conditions for public safety and convenience," Lipp said. "Street conditions are measurable and it is possible ... to project street conditions with and without the funding level provided by the current Measure D half-cent sales tax."
Using a Pavement Condition Index, city staff scores the pavement condition on a scale of 1 to 100. The goal is to keep that score at an industry standard of 70 or greater, requiring an ongoing maintenance program, Lipp said.
Carpinteria's 30-plus miles of streets have an average pavement condition score of 72. A graph displaying the PCI scores without Measure D revenue shows a dramatically declining pavement condition after 2010, when Measure D is set to expire.
"It should be noted that the public does not typically notice a problem with pavement condition until it declines to the critical PCI of 55," Lipp said. "By that time the pavement is beyond the preventive maintenance level and requires major repair and replacement, which is a higher cost."
Between 2002 and 2006, the sales tax provided 52.9 percent of funding for the street maintenance program and 43.7 percent of public works funding. Gas taxes and and a parcel-based assessment known as the Right-of-Way assessment district annually generate about $350,000 and $200,000 respectively.
Increasing the city sales tax or parcel assessment could partially offset the potential loss of Measure D revenue. With a half-cent increase in local sales tax, the city would likely generate about $700,000, comparable to figures being discussed by SBCAG in its draft Measure D renewal plan.
Voter approval, by a two-thirds majority, would be required to approve the annual parcel-based assessment, which averages at around $50 per parcel. California's gas tax is collected at 18 cents per gallon and has not changed since 1994, Lipp said, and should not be relied upon as a future source of increased revenue.
If a process is undertaken to identify new sources of funding for transportation projects in Carpinteria, Lipp said the city should also consider increased program costs, such as updates to the city's Storm Water Management program to meet state mandates.
If the current Measure D renewal plan goes forward as drafted, the city will still have to either find new sources of revenue or reduce service, since SBCAG's current expenditure plan falls about $100,000 short of what the city has historically spent. Councilmembers will hear a report from Lipp and direct staff on how to proceed at their meeting this evening.