SCA 11 Fact Sheet

A Constitutional Amendment for Community Infrastructure Funding:

SCA11-Local Bonds for Local Governments

California Communities Have Huge Unmet Infrastructure Needs.  The state’s population will almost double in the next 20 years, mostly due to natural increases as opposed to immigration. Local governments are facing major financial burdens to finance a variety of infrastructure maintenance and improvements to accommodate this new growth.  A blend of investments in affordable housing, community enhancements, transportation alternatives, open space and other infrastructure is needed to support future population growth while protecting the environment, strengthening the economy and enhancing the quality of life for all Californians.

The backlog of unmet repair needs for city streets and county roads alone is estimated at $11 billion.  California ranks third to last in the nation in housing affordability and has a serious shortfall in funding for affordable housing.  Transit agencies across the state are facing substantial shortfalls for maintenance and operations.  Communities are calling for greater investments in bicycle and pedestrian facilities and traffic safety improvements to make their neighborhoods and town centers more safe and walkable.  Many neighborhoods lack adequate park space and recreation facilities to serve families and address the crisis of physical inactivity and obesity that threatens public health, especially for our growing youth population.  Our state is the largest agricultural producer and has some of the most prime agricultural land and valuable natural resources in the nation; additional investments are needed to protect resource lands and open space and support the state’s agricultural economy.

Current Law.  The California Constitution requires a 2/3 vote to approve the incurrence of indebtedness by a local government.  However, the issuance of general obligation bonds may be approved by only 55% of the voters for school construction and modernization.  Since the threshold for school construction was lowered, there has been a marked increase in locally funded school construction that has begun to reduce the number of overcrowded schools, improving educational outcomes and laying a foundation for greater economic opportunity.  This lower vote threshold should be extended to local governments struggling to pay for the infrastructure to accommodate growth and maintain our quality of life.

Some recent proposals have supported a reduction in the vote threshold for a special tax to a simple majority, with no strings attached.  Such proposals are troubling because they do not include mechanisms to ensure that the distribution of monies is fair and equitable and protects and enhances the environment, and they do not include safeguards to ensure that new infrastructure investments are efficient, well-planned and accountable uses of taxpayer dollars.

A Better Solution.  This constitutional amendment would give communities two new flexible tools to address a variety of infrastructure needs, and it would do so in a manner that is fair and equitable, environmentally sound and promotes efficient, well-planned development. 

These bills would allow the voters of California to decide whether to lower the threshold from a 2/3 vote to a 55% vote to establish a local bond or a special tax for community infrastructure improvements.  Communities would have the option of passing a tax or bond or both.  The local bond or special tax could be used to fund a balance of investments in four key areas vital to accommodating future growth in California:  (1) affordable housing, (2) community and neighborhood improvements, (3) open space and farmland, and, (4) general infrastructure needs.  These bills would not change or replace the transportation-only special tax that local governments can pass under current law.  Instead they simply create new financial tools to help communities address a broader set of infrastructure needs.

SCA11-Community Infrastructure Bonds (Senator Alarcón) – A local government, or special district with the approval of a 55% of its voters could incur indebtedness in the form of general obligation bonds or in the form of a special tax that is otherwise authorized by law to impose, for the below purposes:

• 20% - Affordable Housing – Financial assistance and incentives for the construction of affordable housing for those Californians most in need.

• 20% - Neighborhood Improvements – To include safe routes to transit and schools projects, traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures, streetscape improvements, incentives for transit–oriented development, transit operations and maintenance, bicycle parking and storage facilities, neighborhood parks, trails and greenways, main street revitalization and transportation for seniors and the disabled.

• 20% - Green Space – Neighborhood parks, protection of farmland and open space.  

• 20% - General Infrastructure – General infrastructure needs including but not limited to water, sewer, utility, brownfields reclamation, transit capital projects and maintenance, and/or maintenance and rehabilitation of local streets, road, mass transit and highways.

• 20% - Any of the above uses.

Contacts: 

Charles L. Mason, Jr., Surface Transportation Policy Project, (916) 447-8565, cmason@transact.org.

José Atilio Hernandez, Office of Senator Richard Alarcón, (916) 445-7928.