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HomeMy WebLinkAbout95-350 . . . RESOLUTION NO. 95-350 ON THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNODAL SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY ACT WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Mohave County met in Regular Session this 7th day of August, 1995, and WHEREAS, the Internodal Surface Transportation Efficiency (ISTEA) expire on September 30, 1997; and WHEREAS, counties own and maintain 1.7 million miles of roads or 43 percent of the total roads in the United States and 219,000 bridges or 45 percent of the bridges in the United States; and WHEREAS, counties own or contribute to the funding of 25 percent of the public transit systems; and WHEREAS, the movement of people, goods and services in urban, suburban and rural areas is vital to the nation's economy and its international competitiveness; and WHEREAS, traffic congestion I suburban and urban areas is reaching a crisis stage; and WHEREAS, smooth flowing, well integrated highways and expanded public transit are the best methods for meeting clean air standards; and WHEREAS, county government will be playing a greatly expanded role in transportation in suburban and urban areas over the next several decades; and WHEREAS, ISTEA has enhanced the role of urban counties in planning and funding allocation; and WHEREAS, many rural counties are not being heard through the ISTEA planning process; and WHEREAS, the nation's system of rural roads and bridges, a key factor to the economic vitality of rural areas, is deterioration at an accelerated rate due to its age, the increasing weights of trucks and farm equipment, and expanding use due to railroad abandonment; and WHEREAS, the National Association of Counties has adopted a similar resolution of endorsement on July 25, 1995: . . . Resolution No. 95-350 Page 2 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the reauthorization of ISTEA - should include substantial increase in funding for the surface transportation program, the bridge program and the mass transit programs which provide assistance to county governments that build, own, operate, maintain, fund, or otherwise have responsibilities tor highways, bridges and transit systems and not include changes to the structure of the program that would direct more funding to the state governments at the expense oflocal governments, such as block grant proposals which would merge the highway and transit programs; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that rural counties need to be empowered by ISTEA, both in terms of the planning process and access to highway and transit funding; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mohave County Board of Supervisors endorses the following provisions for inclusion in the new legislation: 1. The highway program should be user fee based. 2. The federal subsidy for public transit should come from the general fund and/or the motor vehicle fuel tax. 3. The balance in the trust funds should be spent down quickly. 4. The federal-state-Iocal relationship needs to be strengthened. Counties and cities should be considered as equal partners in the reauthoriztion of the ISTEA program. Many of the problems which need to be addressed in the future are local in nature. Therefore, the process must be strengthened which ensures that county governments, both urban and nrral, are consulted and treated as equal partners with the state governments in the planning, funding allocation and other decision making processes. 5. A program, such as the National Highway System, be continued to provide federal funds to maintain and upgrade the major highway network of the nation. 6. The Surface Transportation Program should be continued with the goal of providing maximum funding to county governments with a minimum of interference by state officials concerning spending decisions. 7. Tn those states with a county road system, the rural set aside in the Surface Transportation Program should be restricted to county roads functionally classified as collector or higher. . . . Resolution No. 95-350 Page 3 8. The bridge program (HBRRP) retain its separate identity with greater funding; the minimum percentage of funds dedicated to off-system bridges be increased from 15 percent to 30 percent; and that there be no change to the system which determines which bridges are eligible for federal funds. 9. The mass transit program retain its separate identity. 10. Funding for mass transit should be increased either through its existing share of the Highway Trust Funding or through the general fined. More flexibility should be givento the recipients oftransit funding as to how the funds should be allocated, including whether funds are spent for operating or capital expenses. However, before a transit system receives funds, at least a five year plan for that system must be in place. 11 . The finding baseline for all programs should be no less than currently authorized under ISTEA. 12. Federal mandates attached to highway and transit funding should be reviewed. Those which impose undue burdens on county government, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, 13-C and other unfunded mandates, and waste finite resources should be eliminated or reformed. 13. Safety must be a major consideration in any transportation investment. Federal aid requirements must be simplified under are-authorized ISTEA, and each county government should be permitted to focus federal highway safety resources on its most pressing problems. 14. The federal government should take a more active role in transferring the results of its research and development directly to local governments. 15. The federal-local match should remain unchanged. 16. The transportation enhancement set aside which is part of the surface transportation program (STP) should be lowered from 10 percent to 5 percent of the total STP program and eligibility should be narrowed to projects which are truly transportation related. 17. Criteria should be set for demonstration projects including a requirement that a project be on a region or state's plan, that it be future orientated, and that it provides an increased level of servIce. . . . RESOLUTION NO. 95-350 Page 4 18. Acceleration of the promotion of the internlOdol goals of ISTEA, seeking to ensure the implementation of system, facilities and transportation dollars that would strengthen the connection between modes of transportation. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 7th day of August, 1995. MOHA VE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ~~/~ " . Pat Holt, Chairman ATTEST: ... ~._--. ~":"""'"~. .".-, .