County transportation head says sales tax may help relieve traffic
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Darren Kettle

The head of the county's transportation agency said last week a half-cent sales tax in Ventura County could ease traffic-clogged freeways and get commuters home earlier.

Darren Kettle, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, told business and government leaders at the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce a county sales tax could generate as much as $60 million a year for widening freeways and other transportation improvement projects.

The amount would be four times what Ventura County now receives.

Kettle said he'd like to see a half-cent sales tax on the ballot by 2010.

New to Ventura County, Kettle agreed to head the county transportation agency in October after having directed legislative affairs and freeway construction for the San Bernardino Associated Governments, a sister agency to the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

The agencies set the policies, funding and priority for county transportation projects and services. Commissioners represent each county supervisor and cities within the county.

Kettle is optimistic a sales tax measure to improve traffic in Ventura County can win voters' approval despite a failed attempt in 2004.

Measure B, which would have provided funds for widening the 101, 118, 126 and 23 freeways, expanding commuter rail services and more, won only 42 percent of the vote, far short of the required 67 percent needed to pass. Kettle attributed the loss in part to proponents unveiling the measure five months before voters went to the polls.

He said a plan to pass a sales tax measure must include a twoyear information campaign that discloses to the public how the money will be spent. He also said businesses must support the measure.

Otherwise, "in a twothirds environment, we won't stand a chance," Kettle said.

Several years before the San Bernardino Associated Governments successfully passed a ballot measure to extend a half-cent sales tax for freeway and road improvements, it partnered with the public and private sectors in raising money for a public ad campaign. Measure I won 80 percent of the vote in 2004.

That same tactic could work here if government, businesses and other stakeholders work together on passing a ballot measure that also recognizes the importance residents place on open space, Kettle said.

"We can't turn our backs on the fact that open space and conservation are going to be on the minds of voters in this county," he said.

Without a sales tax the county is at a disadvantage when asking for state funds, because it has no funds to match.

What's more, because San Bernardino already had a sales tax and completed projects it funded, transportation officials could point to those projects as assurance to the public the money will be used as promised.

"Here we have to say, 'Trust me,'" Kettle said, "and being a publicsector guy, that doesn't always work with the voters."

More money for more mobility

Ventura County is the only large county in the state without a sales tax to support highway improvements and transportation services. In the next 20 years, the population is expected to increase by 200,000 and the need for more freeway and highway lanes and additional train service will become more pronounced.

Federal and state funding isn't enough to do the job, Kettle said.

Money from the 18centsagallon federal excise tax, which hasn't changed in 16 years, accounts for only 20 percent of the budget when it should be responsible for 40 percent, Kettle said.

As for the state, "not one penny" of the 18-cents-a-gallon sales tax goes to pay for adding highway capacity or improving services, but only to maintain a "system that is falling apart," Kettle said. "It's a very, very depressing note."

To widen its highways, Ventura County depends on $14 million a year from voterapproved Proposition 42 funds. But financing multimillion-dollar improvement projects using only those monies would take many years, he said.

Kettle said he's encouraged that in 2006 voters approved Proposition 1B- a $20-billion fund for state and local transportation projects that ease congestion and improve the shipment of goods- taking it as a sign that a sales tax to improve mobility could pass in Ventura County.

"I think that does bode well for the future," he said.

Kettle and Tom Kelley, president of the Camarillo Chamber, represent county government and businesses as board members of Mobility 21, a regional alliance of government, businesses and other entities in five Southern California counties to resolve transportation issues.

Kelley said local businesses should get involved because traffic congestion adds to the expense of doing business: It delays deliveries, sales people spend more time on the road and frustrated employees tired of being stuck in traffic may move away.

"Better movement of people on highways is critical to the economic viability of businesses," Kelley said. "Every hour and every minute counts."