To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Report on Fiscal Year 2025/26 Budgets for the Congestion Management Agency and the Regional Transportation Planning Committees
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26 budget for the Congestion Management Agency (CMA), a function performed by the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (Authority) and APPROVE FY 2025/26 County contributions of $699,510 to the CMA and $123,463 to the Regional Transportation Planning Committees that assist with implementing Measure J (2004), as required by prior agreements.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the General Fund. The County contributions to the Congestion Management Agency and the Regional Transportation Planning Committees are accounted for and funded from the annual operating budgets approved by the Board of Supervisors for the Public Works Department and the Department of Conservation and Development, using gas tax and Measure J Return-to-Source revenue.
BACKGROUND:
The agreement that created Contra Costa County's Congestion Management Agency (CMA) requires referral of its budget to member jurisdictions. The Regional Transportation Planning Committees (RTPCs) were established by the County and the cities to facilitate cooperative multi-jurisdictional transportation planning in the four subregions of the County, pursuant to the Measure J Transportation Improvement and Growth Management Program. Some RTPCs require member jurisdictions to review their proposed annual budgets. The Board of Supervisors takes this action annually.
This Board Order also recommends approval of the budgeted financial contribution from Contra Costa County to the CMA and the RTPCs for FY 2025/26, as required by agreements creating these entities.
Exhibit "A" compares the FY 2025/26 CMA and RTPC budgets and the proposed County contribution to these entities to prior years. The sub-headings below explain the budgets for each Agency/Committee in further detail.
Contra Costa Transportation Authority (Authority)
The Authority was created in 1988 to manage funds generated by a special half-cent transportation sales tax ("Measure C"), which was approved by voters to fund local transportation projects. The Authority also administers the related voter-approved growth management program requirements. Measure J extended this sales tax and growth management program to 2034. In 1992, the County and local cities entered into a Joint Powers Agreement to designate the Authority as the County's CMA, pursuant to Proposition 111 (1990). Although California law no longer requires each county to have a designated CMA, the local jurisdictions have continued to support the CMA to facilitate the receipt and expenditure of state and federal transportation funds administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).
Contra Costa County's annual contribution to the CMA is based on two components: 1) the formula [population and road miles] used by the State to distribute Proposition 111 gas tax revenue to cities and counties, and 2) the amount of state and federal revenue received by the Authority to fund CMA functions. The Authority primarily uses federal (Surface Transportation Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) and state (State Transportation Planning, Programming, and Monitoring Program) revenues to fund CMA activities. However, if these revenues are insufficient, member agencies contribute the balance based on the aforementioned formula. As noted in the attached spreadsheet, local contributions are estimates due to the inability to accurately project fluctuating federal and state revenues.
For FY 2025/26, the Authority’s overall budget is $203,172,894. The County contribution is $699,510, a $404,609 increase from the previous fiscal year’s $294,901 contribution (approximately a 137% increase). County staff as well as staff from cities who expressed similar concerns with the local contribution increase met with CCTA staff in May 2025 to discuss the issue and potential solutions. At that time the proposed increase was even larger. CCTA staff were receptive to staff concerns and explained the increase was due to one-time or periodic expenses (e.g., Countywide Transportation Plan update, Countywide Emergency Evacuation Study) and that local contributions would go down in the future. CCTA was also able to reduce the requested contribution from the County and Cities. County staff will monitor the development of the next CMA budget and identify if next year’s local contribution amount is more typical with prior amounts.
The CMA budget was approved by the Public Managers Association in May 2025, and the CCTA Board in June 2025. The highlights of the Planning/CMA budget include:
• Salaries and benefits of $1.2 million
• $1 million for CMA Support and the CTP Update
• $480,000 for Big Data Subscription
• $850,000 for the Countywide Emergency Evacuation Study
• $500,000 for the San Pablo Ave Multimodal Phase 3 project
Southwest Area Transportation (SWAT) Committee
SWAT is the RTPC established for the jurisdictions within the San Ramon Valley and the Lamorinda area (County, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Danville, San Ramon). Administrative support, currently provided by contracting with the City of San Ramon, consists of compiling and distributing agendas, staff support at Committee meetings, providing summaries of each meeting, and coordinating the SWAT Technical Advisory Committee. SWAT is funded by equal contributions from the six participating jurisdictions. At the beginning of each billing period, which mirrors the fiscal year, SWAT provides an estimated annual budget and member jurisdiction dues.
However, SWAT is unique among the RTPCs in that the jurisdictions are billed the actual annual member dues at the end of the billing period for the prior fiscal year. For FY 2024/25, the actual SWAT budget was $29,359.50. The actual County contribution to SWAT for FY 2023/24 is $4,893.25.
For FY 2025/26, the proposed SWAT budget and the County contribution will be $48,735 and $8,123, respectively. The proposed budget is comprised of $38,735 for SWAT administrative services and $10,000 for SWAT website maintenance.
Transportation Partnership and Cooperation (TRANSPAC) Committee
TRANSPAC is the RTPC established for the jurisdictions in North-Central Contra Costa (County, Martinez, Concord, Clayton, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, County Connection, BART). The Managing Director and support staff, who are contracted by TRANSPAC, provide administrative support. For FY 2025/26, the TRANSPAC budget is $425,500. This budget amount includes $349,000 for administrative costs, a $41,500 project reserve set aside for the future "I-680/Monument Boulevard Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Feasibility Study", and a $35,000 contingency. Half of the annual total member jurisdiction dues to TRANSPAC are apportioned equally to the six participating jurisdictions, while the other half is apportioned based on the jurisdictions’ share of population and road mileage in the TRANSPAC area. For FY 2025/26, the County member contribution is $53,034.
Transportation Planning Committee for East Contra Costa County (TRANSPLAN)
TRANSPLAN Committee is the RTPC established for jurisdictions in Eastern Contra Costa (County, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Tri Delta Transit, BART). The Department of Conservation and Development provides administrative support to the TRANSPLAN Committee, pursuant to a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) (1991) that funds staff time and materials. The budget provides for administrative support to the TRANSPLAN Committee and its technical advisory committee, staff support to represent the Committee before other entities, and the ability to carry out the decisions of the Committee. The budget is funded by equal contributions from the five participating municipalities. The total FY 2025/26 TRANSPLAN budget is $35,103.70. When a FY 2024/25 budget surplus of $15,723.20 is applied to the FY 2025/26 TRANSPLAN budget, the result is a net total budget of $24,430.50. The County contribution is $4,886.10.
Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC)
TVTC, consisting of Contra Costa County and Alameda County jurisdictions in the Tri-Valley area (Alameda and Contra Costa counties, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton), adopted a Joint Exercise of Powers (JEPA) agreement in 2013, formally establishing it as an independent entity. Responsibility for administrative support rotates every two years among the participating jurisdictions. The TVTC budget for FY 2025/26 is $85,700. Budget revenues are generated from an average annual 1% "set aside" of the subregional transportation development impact fees and cover the agency's normal operating expenditures. Thus, the County does not contribute to TVTC.
West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC)
WCCTAC is the RTPC established for jurisdictions and transit agencies in Western Contra Costa (County, Hercules, Pinole, San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito, WestCAT, AC Transit, BART). WCCTAC has its own dedicated staff, headed by an executive director. WCCTAC's full budget consists of the budget for WCCTAC Operations (Advisory Committee), WCCTAC Traffic Demand Management (TDM), WCCTAC Sub-regional Transportation Mitigation Program (STMP), and "Other Reimbursable (Special Projects)". The FY 2025/26 full budget for WCCTAC is $10,805,101.
Member jurisdiction dues support WCCTAC Operations. WCCTAC consists of nine member agencies, each with one seat/vote, except the City of Richmond, which has three, for eleven total seats/votes. The member jurisdiction dues are determined by dividing the WCCTAC Operations budget (after deductions from other funding sources) by the number of seats held; therefore, the County pays one-eleventh (9.1%) of WCCTAC's Operations budget. The FY 2025/26 Operations budget for WCCTAC is $631,620 after deducting $33,000 of Measure J (20b and 21b) funds, total member contributions are $617,060 and the County member contribution is $57,420.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If not accepted, County staff will have no direction on how to fulfill fiscal and policy obligations relative to funding the Congestion Management Agency and the Regional Transportation Planning Committees.