FRESNO, Calif. – The months-long legal and political dispute over whether Fresno County residents will vote on a proposed transportation tax this November is over.
Now comes the next phase for Measure S: convincing a majority of the electorate in Fresno County to support, or reject, a half-cent sales tax projected to generate nearly $7.4 billion during its 30-year lifespan.
Measure S – which is also known as “Better Roads Safe Streets” – may have a new name, but it is not really a new tax. Rather, it is designed to succeed Measure C, a half-cent sales tax that has been on the books since 1986 and expires June 30, 2027. (In case you were wondering, the “S” in the new measure stands for safety.)
Now that Measure S has been cleared for the November ballot, by judicial decree, Fresno County voters will soon be deluged with information from the initiative’s supporters and detractors designed to sway their choice.
“We want to earn voter support and their trust for this measure,” said Veronica Garibay, the co-director of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, who was involved in its crafting. “Our strategy and our plan is to talk directly to the voters, even door to door, and make the case for why they should support Measure S.”
By contrast, Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chairman Garry Bredefeld vowed to campaign against the measure.
“Between now and Nov. 3, we will make the case directly to voters about how their hard-earned money will be misused for 30 years,” Bredefeld said in a statement, “why this measure is a betrayal of every resident who has waited decades for their roads to be fixed and how the measure will be the largest misappropriation of taxpayer money in the history of Fresno County.”
With the ballot dispute now in the past, KVPR examined the measure in detail to report some of its key aspects.
Tax revenue breakdown
The largest, most obvious distinction between Measure S and its predecessor, Measure C, is how tax revenues are distributed between local and regional road projects.
Measure S allocates 65% of revenue to existing neighborhood roads and 5% to regional improvements (including 1% to Fresno Yosemite International Airport). That's compared to 34.6% of revenue for local roads and 30.4% for regional improvements like freeways and major commuter corridors under the expiring Measure C.
Under Measure S, each of Fresno County’s 15 incorporated cities and Fresno County would receive $400,000 a year to maintain, repair or rebuild existing roads.
The balance of local roads funds would then be distributed to each jurisdiction using an “80/20” formula. That equates to 80% of funds allocated according to population and 20% by the number of maintained public roadway miles. By comparison, Measure C employed a “75/25” formula.
“Measure C has historically emphasized building out freeways and some of our major roads,” said Andy Levine, a Fresno Unified School District trustee who also serves as campaign manager for Measure S. “That choice has come at the expense of investing in and improving our local roads, which is why across all of the listening and engagement we've done for the last two years, residents have been loud and clear that they wanted to see a redirection of priority to local existing neighborhood roads.”
On the other hand, Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig is concerned the relatively small allotment for regional projects will hamper local officials from securing state and federal matching funds necessary to complete large-scale roadway improvements.
“Cities are going to look to the county to fully fund some of these projects, and it'll be difficult, if not impossible, to do,” Magsig said.
Under Measure S, cities would have wide leeway over how to spend their funds for local roads. However, they can only spend up to 5% of funds per year on “road expansion or capacity-increasing projects” – and only if every street in their jurisdiction attains a “Pavement Conditions Index” score of 65 or above.
A PCI score of 65 is considered “fair.” PCI provides a snapshot, on a scale of 0 to 100, of the pavement scale of each road. The scores are determined by each jurisdiction’s planning staff or consultants.
For context, Fresno’s 1,800 miles of roads were last rated at an average of 60. Mendota, meanwhile, has an average PCI score of 36.
To opponents of Measure S, this limit on “capacity-increasing” projects is far too restrictive.
“It just doesn’t work – it’s not serving the needs of the community because [cities] will never meet that PCI score of 65,” said Henry Perea, a former Fresno city councilman and county supervisor.
Perea was involved in an alternative transportation tax designed to counter Measure S. Named “Fix Our Roads,” it failed to collect enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
Because of the PCI stipulation, “They’ll never have the opportunity to improve Manning Avenue out to Parlier or do something out to Mendota,” with Measure S, Perea said. “That work will never ever happen in the next 30 years if this measure passes.”
Measure S also contains a “no-sprawl” stipulation. It states that revenues allotted to existing neighborhood roads cannot be used for new street construction in “new growth areas” or “new town developments.”
Pedestrians, bicycles and public transit funding
The 65% allocation to local roads also makes major commitments to new bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
Under Measure S, at least 120 miles of bike paths or protected bike lanes must be constructed by 2057 when the tax sunsets.
At least 84 of those miles would be built in Fresno and Clovis, and at least 36 miles in unincorporated county areas.
Safe Routes to Schools is another emphasis of the measure.
Measure S mandates at least 150 such projects designed to “improve walkability, safety and connectivity for students and reduce serious injuries and fatalities.”
“The plan is about safety,” said Garibay, from Leadership Counsel. “Get people from point A to point B safely, whether they walk, bike, ride or roll.”
The second-largest slice of funding under Measure S – 25% of the tax revenue – is allocated to public transit. This funding share represents just a slight increase from Measure C, which devoted 24% to public transit.
Fresno Area Express, Fresno's city-run bus system, gets the lion’s share of this funding – 70% – followed by 20% to Fresno County Rural Transit Agency and 10% to Clovis Transit.
To continue receiving funds under Measure S, each transit agency must demonstrate year-over-year improvements using several metrics measuring total ridership, service frequencies, wait times and on-time performance.
“What we heard loud and clear from residents is that public transportation and our public transit systems need to improve countywide,” Garibay said. “It's not frequent enough. It's not reliable enough. It doesn't take you where you need to go.”
In addition, 4% of Measure S is set aside for “access and innovation” that assures free bus fares for seniors 62 and older, people with disabilities, active-duty military personnel, veterans, students and children.
Any leftover funds in the public transit bucket would be awarded, via grants, for projects that support clean energy, future technologies and telecommuting.
Critics of Measure S contend too much money is allotted to buses and bike lanes.
“Fresno County does not need a 30-year, multi-billion dollar blank check designed to get people out of their cars and onto buses, bikes and scooters,” said Bredefeld, the county supervisor.
The measure’s supporters say the aim is not to force people out of their vehicles, but “to make sure that there are all options and modes of transportation for people to be able to get to everywhere they need to get to,” Garibay said.
The remaining 1% of Measure S money would be allotted to administration, slightly less than the 1.5% under the expiring Measure C.
What will oversight look like?
Another distinction between the proposed measure and the expiring one is oversight.
Measure C created the Fresno County Transportation Authority, whose governing board approved how tax revenue was spent and ensured projects were built and managed correctly.
Under Measure S, the FCTA would be eliminated and its responsibilities would be passed to the Fresno Council of Governments (COG).
Each city and the county are required to submit independent audits and performance reports annually. Fresno COG would also carry out independent audits of all tax revenues and expenditures.
While Measure C had some citizen oversight, residents lacked any real power. The role of the Citizen Oversight Committee would be strengthened and expanded with Measure S.
Its 11 members, selected by the Fresno COG policy board, have the authority to review financial and performance audits, recommend actions and expenditures and will hold quarterly public meetings.
Because Measure S is a citizen-led initiative and gathered the required number of signatures, it needs only a simple majority to pass. Previous iterations of Measure C required a two-thirds majority, including the failed renewal effort in 2024.
