Funds grow steadily to meet region’s transportation, housing needs

The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Board of Directors for a fourth consecutive year, has adopted a historic budget to plan, finance and coordinate the region’s transportation, housing, habitat and more.

Board members on March 28 approved a $48.3 million budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25 that is nearly $8 million more than last year’s budget and $35 million more than the budget in 2019-20. By comparison, the agency’s budget was about $13 million just five years ago.

“Having a budget of more than $48 million means SJCOG can continue the necessary work to innovate, plan, and partner on building infrastructure to enhance traffic safety, repair local roads, ease traffic congestion, and provide multimodal transportation improvements,” Escalon Mayor and SJCOG Chair David Bellinger said. “We start each year wanting to be even better than last year, striving to enrich the quality of life in San Joaquin County. This operating budget allows us to innovate and to relentlessly pursue excellence together as a council of governments.”

Part of the increased funding comes from SJCOG’s strategic success in securing new grant-funded projects and programs to improve transportation infrastructure, such as adding electric charging locations throughout the county. And a $10.6 million Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) 2.0 grant in the coming fiscal year will be used to improve mobility equity and housing opportunities in San Joaquin County.

“The SJCOG Board of Directors is constantly discovering ways to infuse modern ideas into regional transportation planning,” SJCOG Executive Director Diane Nguyen said. “SJCOG is able to do this by engaging communities and hearing from residents on how to create changes in transportation that benefit residents and businesses.”

Some of the projects and programs covered by the new budget:

• The agency received $15 million from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant Community Charging Program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will allow SJCOG and its partners to add electric vehicle charging equipment throughout the county.
• SJCOG will tackle regional climate challenges using state funding from the Regional Climate Collaboratives program for regional resiliency and adaptation efforts and from the Clean Mobility Options program that allows SJCOG and its partners to expand electric vehicle carsharing services.
• Funding from the California Air Resources Board’s Sustainable Transportation Equity Program (STEP) to create the Stockton Mobility Collective pilot project will be in its final year in 2024-25. While the STEP grant will be expended in the coming fiscal year, SJCOG will use State Senate Bill 1 and CFI grant money to deliver the first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program building skills for jobs that car- and bikesharing programs will bring to the region.
• SJCOG will embark on an ambitious program with a $10.6 million REAP 2.0 grant that builds on an existing REAP 1.0 grant to accelerate existing regional and local housing plans and meet other state objectives including infill development.
• Ongoing studies in the budget include developing a Data Sharing, Tools and Analytics Program, a Clean Transportation Workforce Development plan, Innovations in Bike and Pedestrian Project Delivery plan, and a Travel Demand Management Study.

SJCOG Board members actually approved two documents Thursday for the $48.3 million budget, the Overall Work Program (OWP) and Annual Finance Plan (AFP). The OWP is a management tool listing the tasks and products SJCOG staff will deliver in 2024-25 and the ATP is presented in a traditional line-item format. The AFP will now be sent to SJCOG member agencies for ratification.