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Task Force opens broad funding conversation; members ask staff for funding scenarios
Summary
Members signaled strong interest in stable operating revenue and asked staff to return with scenario estimates of 10-year operating and capital needs and the potential yield of candidate revenue sources including TDA increases, road-user charges, payroll or income surcharges, tourism fees, congestion pricing and GGRF expansion.
Task force members and the technical staff spent a large portion of the meeting reviewing the state's funding context and assembling a menu of revenue options for further study.
Staff framed the problem: across California agencies between 2013 and 2023 roughly 62% of spend went to operations and 38% to capital; fares account for a small share of revenues and non-fare value-capture revenue has been minor. Staff asked the task force what scenarios and revenue options should be modeled for a 10-year forecast, stressing multiple uncertainties (fare recovery pace, federal reauthorization, EV-related declines in motor-fuel tax receipts, and timing of new mandates).
Speakers proposed a mix of sources. Ian Griffiths and others urged large-scale revenue mechanisms that can raise billions (examples offered in discussion: an income surtax on high-earners, a payroll tax modeled on some European systems, a corporate "transit fee" (New Jersey example), road-user charges phased in for non-gas vehicles, and gross-receipts taxes). Several members urged protecting operating budgets now and avoiding a future "transit museum" of parked vehicles without service. Others recommended near-term options such as incrementally increasing TDA and seeking more California Climate Investments (cap-and-trade/GGRF) for operations. Tourism-related levies and congestion pricing were put on the table as event- or location-specific options that could raise substantial local revenue.
The task force asked staff to return with scenario estimates: (a) illustrative funding targets for different policy goals (e.g., restore pre-pandemic service levels, achieve ridership increases linked to greenhouse-gas objectives), and (b) revenue-yield estimates for candidate sources, with attention to timing, equity and geographic distribution. Members emphasized an approach that pairs revenue proposals with efficiency reviews and administrative reforms to strengthen the political case for new money.
Ending: Staff committed to modeling several scenarios and to present expected revenue envelopes and tradeoffs at the next meetings.
