Assemblyman Brough Summarizes The TCA
On April 3, 2019, Assemblyman Bill Brough wrote the following letter to the California State elected officials. It was a companion to his AB1273 bill to remove the TCA’s planning authority and stop additional debts. It was shortly after this that his campaign and office manager Jennifer Beall resigned over the issue of the TCA. Jennifer is an elected official to the Republican Central Committee for the 73rd District and currently faces an FPPC complaint along with her husband, Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Tony Beall, who is also facing a recall in addition to the FPPC complaint. Tony has earned about $30,000 directly from the TCA as the city representative to their board.
What follows is an extract and then images of the exact letter. It is very useful for understanding the background of the TCA and the overreach they are currently involved in.
“April 3, 2019
The transportation corridor agency (TCA) formed in 1986 as a joint powers authority (JPA) by the County and cities following planning that began in the 1970’s identifying the need for new highways. A series of laws were enacted subsequently that created the system.
In 1987, SB 1413 (Seymour) authorized toll roads in Orange County. 1n 1989, AB 680(Seymour) authorized the State of California (Caltrans) to test the feasibility of building 4 privately funded transportation facilities. Language in AB 680 stated “The bill would authorize the department (Caltrans) to lease those facilities to the private entities for up to 35 years. The privately constructed facilities would at all times be state owned.” In 1990,SB 1437 (Seymour) added fees collected pursuant to the subdivision map. The bills envisioned that only upon a finding that there is no other adequate funding available from
federal, state or other sources, the JPA could toll the roads to pay off the then $1 billion price tag, then turn the roads over to the people as free roads like the 5.
The original concept has changed dramatically. When opened in the 1990’s, the system cost was already up to about $2.4 billion without taxpayer money, actual initial costs of the roads were missed by some $3.2 billion, or about 400%. The current plan has extended debt and increased tolls — at least 12 times since 1996 to pay off the now $4 billion in debt that will cost $11 billion under the current debt structure. TCA has greater debt than the states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and North and South Dakota.
The toll roads have been collecting tolls on the corridors since 1993 and 1996 and will continue to do so until 2053 and 2050 respectively, not the 35 years as originally planned. The system was created due to a lack of transportation funding. Now, Orange County residents pay four times for roads. We pay our normal taxes, Measure M2 (a county ½ cent sales tax for roads), SB1 gas taxes (.12 cents on gas, .20 cents on diesel and increased registration fees), and pay to drive the toll roads.
For the last two decades, the toll roads have been planning an extension to the 5 south of San Clemente and north of Camp Pendleton. The extension was repeatedly denied by the San Diego regional water quality board, California Coastal Commission, and an appeal to the Bush Administration’s Department of Commerce in 2006. These denials ultimately led to TCA paying a $28 million settlement to the environmental community to remove their opposition. The settlement also removed the route supported by many of us from
building any road.
Since the settlement, TCA has been planning a new route that conceptually passes
through the private land of Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and San
Clemente ultimately connecting to the 5. Additionally, TCA is planning to connect the 241 to the 91 in Corona. The problem is that the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), who manages the 5, and the Riverside County Transportation Corridor (RCTC), who manages the 91, do not support these efforts. Yet, TCA continues to spend homeowner and business fees collected on these planning efforts. Rather than being a toll road operator, which should be their core mission, they have become a planning agency that is operating outside of their lane so to speak.
In 2018, AB 382 was heard in the California Senate Transportation Committee. The theme that repeatedly came up by the committee chair was that there needed to be clear delineation who the transportation planning authority is in Orange County. The public utilities code is clear. The transportation planning authority in Orange County is OCTA. OCTA is the steward of Measure M2 that has done projects such as the Ortega Highway bridge replacement at the 5, off ramp improvements and the car pool lane extension to Pico along the 5.
Affordability is a major issue in Orange County. It is very expensive to live here. Fees paid to the toll roads are high. New home construction includes a developer fee for single family homes from $4,126 to $5,797. The 14,000 or so homes being constructed by Rancho Mission Viejo will pay an estimated $130 million to TCA that is ultimately passed along to the new homeowners. Businesses get hit harder with fees ranging from $4.67 to $8.06 per square foot. All fees have an automatic 2.206% and 2.667% increase each July 1. These fees are all paid by us through our homes and business and have been for years for a road, in my opinion, that will never be built.
My bill, AB 1273, removes TCA’s planning authority and stops additional debt. The toll road can still plan by going through OCTA, the county planning authority. The toll roads were built and continue to operate on the backs of homeowner, business fees and toll collection. AB 1273 will return the toll roads to its core mission as a toll road operator, pay off the bonds, and turn the roads over to the people as free, which is the original intent.
Sincerely,
William P. Brough
State Assemblyman, 73rd District”
