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Tahoe Regional Planning Agency asks state to adopt federal population figure for formula funds
Summary
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency requested that California align state formula funding with the federally designated population figure for the Lake Tahoe basin, raising the basin's population figure in state calculations from 40,000 to 145,000 via phased implementation to reduce impacts on other regions.
Devin Middlebrook, government affairs manager for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), asked the committee to administratively recognize Lake Tahoe’s federally designated population figure for state formula‑based funding programs.
Middlebrook said that federal statute has reflected a basin population that accounts for visitors as well as permanent residents and that California’s formulas should be aligned with that federal figure. Under federal recognition, TRPA said the basin’s population figure would increase from 40,000 to 145,000; the agency clarified the correct total is 145,000 (a staff report sentence mistakenly listed 165,000). TRPA spokesman Nick Haven joined Middlebrook at the table.
Middlebrook emphasized that TRPA is not asking the state for new money or to change formulas but to recognize the federally designated population figure so California’s share of a $20,000,000 annual transportation commitment (TRPA said California’s share is $4,500,000 per year) is calculated consistently with federal practice. He said the change would help secure a large portion of funding the basin needs and would leverage federal, Nevada, local, and private investments.
In response to committee concerns about impacts on other regions, TRPA expressed willingness to phase in the population increase over multiple years so any downstream impacts on other agencies and programs would be spread across funding programs and time.
Assemblymember Bennett said he was generally supportive of aligning state and federal population accounting and praised TRPA’s willingness to phase implementation to moderate impacts on other agencies. No formal action was taken during the informational hearing.
