In April 2017 the California Legislature and the Governor approved Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, a landmark transportation funding package focused on improving the local and state roadway systems. SB 1 established fuel taxes and vehicle fees which will generate new funding for roadways, including up to $1.5 billion per year allocated directly to counties and cities for local road maintenance, safety improvements and complete street improvements including facilities for bicycles and pedestrians. Sacramento County already received about $7.3 million of these funds in fiscal year 2017-18, and will receive another $21 million in fiscal year 2018-19. This amount will increase in future years and the County will receive an average of more than $24 million per year over the next 10 years. With this new funding SACDOT is able to continue critical services, including pothole filling and pavement maintenance work, that would be at risk of being reduced or even discontinued without this funding. The funding provided by SB 1 is also allowing SACDOT to make significant progress on reducing the County’s $700 million backlog of roadway maintenance and rehabilitation needs, and a $300 million backlog of pedestrian, bicycle and disability access improvements. These funds will go a long way in halting the continued deterioration of the County’s roadway system and bringing it up to an acceptable condition for all users.
SACDOT is already working on road improvements and maintenance projects that are being funded by SB 1. You can keep track of all of the current work in progress on the SACDOT website’s Gas Tax Projects Page.
SB 1 includes public accountability and transparency requirements to ensure that the funding generated by the gas tax and vehicle fees is expended efficiently to improve the local roadway system, and to allow members of the public to review how these funds are being spent. On April 10, 2018, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors adopted a list of projects that are proposed to be funded by SB 1 during fiscal year 2018-19. You can also find the County’s SB 1 Project List on the SACDOT website. It consists of 17 projects for road maintenance, roadway and bridge rehabilitation, safety improvements, and improvements for bicycles, pedestrians and disabled access. The County will also prepare a report at the end of each fiscal year detailing the actual expenditure of SB 1 funds during the year including the projects funded and the amount of funding expended. This report will be made available to the public. 
The SACDOT scorecard at www.sacdot.com is regularly updated to provide additional information and news about Sacramento County’s efforts to improve the roadway system using SB 1 funding. Additional details regarding the SB 1 legislation and its transportation funding programs is available at http://rebuildingca.ca.gov/.
For questions and information on Sacramento County’s implementation of SB 1 funding programs, please contact Matt Darrow at (916) 874-7052, e-mail darrowm@saccounty.gov.
