Tulare County Half-Cent Sales Tax Pays Huge Dividends in First Three Years

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Tulare County officials announced Tuesday that Measure R, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2006, has boosted transportation funding for the county by 400 percent and doubled the amount of road projects started in its first three years.

Supervisor Phil Cox said Tulare County has been able to leverage Measure R to obtain an additional $150 million in state and federal transportation funds. Leveraging is the ability to use local project funding, such as Measure R, to bring in additional and larger amounts of funding.

“Measure R is proving to be a tremendous benefit for Tulare County’s taxpayers,” Supervisor Cox said. “This additional state and federal funding, which would not be possible without Measure R, has doubled the amount of road projects expected.”

Under Measure R’s original expenditure plan, nine projects totaling $49.1 million were projected by May 2010. However, by leveraging Measure R, Tulare County has managed to successfully obtain more than $150 million in state and federal money, plus $50 million in Measure R funds, totaling $200 million in funding to start 18 local road improvement projects.

Supervisor Mike Ennis, who also serves as the chairman for the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG), said Measure R has allowed the start date of many of the road projects up 5 to 10 years. TCAG is responsible for overseeing and planning projects with the county and each of its cities, helping to bring tax money back home to fund bus service, road improvements, projects that will improve air quality, and more.

For example, Supervisor Ennis said, some notable transportation projects that will start ahead of time because of Measure R include: improvements to the Betty Drive, Bardsley Avenue, and Cartmill Avenue railroad crossings; improvements to State Route 190; and the early completion of the Mooney Boulevard widening in Visalia.

“TCAG’s Executive Director, Ted Smalley, has played a tremendous role in obtaining additional funding and moving road projects forward,” Supervisor Ennis said.

Smalley said the additional construction jobs will provide a positive economic impact to construction and other industries in Tulare County.

“Additional road projects in Tulare County mean thousands of jobs created in the construction industry, which has already been hit hard,” Smalley said. “These construction projects are also placing the infrastructure to attract business to Tulare County.”

Smalley said Measure R has also provided funding for local projects in Tulare County’s incorporated cities. For example, Measure R funding has been used for street resurfacing in Dinuba, Woodlake, Tulare and Exeter; the installation of sidewalks in Visalia; intersection improvements in Lindsay; the G Street rehabilitation project in Porterville; and the widening of Road 108 in Tulare.

Read more about Measure R and its accomplishments at www.tcmeasurer.com.