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Public works outlines special districts budgets; public urges funding for Fairmead, queries on SR‑41 impact‑fee accounting
Summary
Public Works presented proposed special districts and road budgets for FY2025‑26 and described recent Measure T and grant-supported projects; public commenters and at least one supervisor asked staff about road impact fee accounting, a large SR‑41 carryover and a revenue jump tied to development along the SR‑41 corridor.
Dominic Tyburski, Madera County Public Works, presented the proposed FY2025‑26 special districts budgets and an overview of county road and water/sewer districts at the June 9 special districts hearing.
Tyburski explained public works administers about 33 water and sewer districts and numerous road maintenance districts and county service areas. He said the department manages grant programs for small water and sewer projects, and pointed to recent and ongoing projects totaling several million dollars.
During public comment, Andra Uribe of Leadership Council urged the board to consider setting aside funds in this year's budgets for local priorities in disadvantaged communities, including trash pickup days, water meter acquisition in Fairmead and a utility rate‑payer assistance program, and requested Measure T dollars for street improvements in Fairmead and La Vina.
A member of the public, Dan Metz of Sierra Citizens for Sensible Government, asked detailed questions about the road impact fee revenue projections and how those funds relate to construction of State Route 41 improvements. Metz said the budget shows a sharp increase in projected impact fee revenue (from a historical $10–12 million to about $26 million) and asked whether transfers or loans between fee accounts had already occurred. Matt Treber (Chief of Development Services) responded that the higher figure reflects actual collections in the current fiscal year related to development activity along the SR‑41 corridor and clarified that any transfer or loan between the county's two road impact fee accounts would require a board action with appropriate loan documentation and repayment terms under the county ordinance.
Treber said the county had under way or available roughly $86 million in combined resources for SR‑41 work when federal allocations, local impact fees and enhanced infrastructure financing district funds are aggregated, and that administration expects to present loan documentation and programming proposals to the board when appropriate.
Supervisor McCauley and other board members asked staff to continue pursuing district consolidation and "right-sizing" for small underfunded districts where economies of scale or consolidation could reduce per‑connection costs. Tyburski said outreach to affected communities is ongoing and that consolidation requires resident support and formal proceedings.
Why it matters
Special district budgets determine the level of road, sewer and water services in many rural and unincorporated parts of Madera County and directly affect residents' road quality, evacuation-route maintenance and infrastructure reliability. Questions about SR‑41 funding and impact‑fee accounting relate to a major regional transportation project and how local fee revenue will be applied.
What comes next
Public works and CAO staff will continue outreach on district consolidation and will provide additional detail on impact‑fee balances and any proposed loan or transfer documents before the board if staff recommends using county road impact fee funds to support SR‑41 work.
Attribution
This article is based on the Public Works presentation by Dominic Tyburski, public comment from Andra Uribe and Dan Metz, and responses from county staff including Matt Treber and Joel Begay at the June 9 special districts hearing.
