The 11-member independent committee reviews how the funds, also known as OC Go, are spent to improve transportation in Orange County
ORANGE – The Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 32nd annual public hearing on June 13 to ensure that the voter-approved Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, is being delivered as promised by the Orange County Transportation Authority.
This year’s public hearing is scheduled for:
6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13 at the Orange County Transportation Authority headquarters, 550 S. Main St. in Orange.
The independent, 11-member oversight committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of the voter-approved Measure M funding, also known as OC Go, and to approve all changes to the plan. The committee holds an annual public hearing about the expenditure of funds generated by Measure M, which was first approved by voters in 1990 and renewed in 2006.
Measure M will continue funding balanced and sustainable transportation improvements through 2041 with revenues expected to exceed $15 billion. Revenues from the renewed Measure M have also helped leverage more than $3.5 billion in external funding, so far. The voter-approved funding plan allocates 43% to freeways, 32% to streets and roads, 25% to transit, and includes two environmental programs.
The original Measure M made possible more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements. Ongoing transportation enhancements include improvements to freeways, widened streets, synchronized signals and improved intersections. Measure M also makes possible Metrolink regional passenger rail service in Orange County.
The goals of Measure M include:
- Relieving congestion
- Maintaining transportation infrastructure
- Supporting rail and community transit options
- Synchronize signals across cities and the county
- Reducing costs for seniors and people with disabilities
- Preserving and restoring natural habitat in perpetuity, and
- Reducing transportation-related pollution in Orange County.
Those unable to attend the public meeting can submit comments by visiting www.octa.net/PublicHearing.
For more information about OC Go or the Taxpayers Oversight Committee, visit www.octa.net/TOC.
