MCAG says Atwater has $18.4 million in Measure V allocations; council urged to fill oversight seat

Stacy Guzman, executive director of the Merced County Association of Governments, briefed the Atwater City Council on the status of Measure V, a half-cent sales tax for transportation that voters approved in 2016. "We are celebrating our ninth year of Measure V already," Guzman said, and added that the program has generated roughly $191,000,000 for Merced County transportation needs.

Guzman said half of Measure V revenue is allocated to local jurisdictions, noting that Atwater has received about $18,400,000 since the measure's inception. "About $95,000,000 has gone directly to the jurisdictions by formula," she said, and the city currently shows a balance of roughly $12,000,000 available for local and regional projects.

The presentation laid out the funding split Guzman described: 50% of annual revenue for local projects under each jurisdiction's discretion, 44% for regional projects (divided between the east and west sides of the county), 5% dedicated to transit, and 1% for MCAG administration and audits. She said jurisdictions receive a base allocation plus a formula based on road miles and population; Atwater's local allocation is roughly $900,000'950,000 per year under that formula.

Council members pressed Guzman on oversight. She explained that Measure V requires a citizens' oversight committee that reviews expenditures and that Atwater currently lacks a representative on that committee. "It's a pretty low time commitment but it has been vacant," Guzman said, urging residents to apply and describing the committee's role in reviewing quarterly and annual expenditure reports and ensuring funds are spent in line with voter-approved categories.

Mayor Nelson and Councilmembers asked whether specific Atwater projects could be funded regionally or locally; Guzman said local funds cover maintenance, sidewalks and curb improvements while regional funds support projects with cross-jurisdictional benefit such as state-highway interchanges and multi-jurisdiction corridors. Guzman pointed the public to MCAG's Measure V web portal and the quarterly expenditure reports for detailed, jurisdiction-level breakdowns.

Why it matters: Atwater's unspent Measure V balance gives the council immediate local discretion to prioritize near-term maintenance and active-transportation projects, but some larger resurfacing or widening projects may require combining local, RSTP and other state sources or seeking regional funding through MCAG.

The council did not take formal action on allocations at the meeting; Guzman left copies of her presentation and directed residents to MCAG's online Measure V reporting tools for project-level details.