Res 11-037
Res 11-037
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA
- Meeting Date:
- 05/18/2011
- Title:
- Resolution for "Hold Harmless" of State Transit Funding Due to Census Redesignations of Urbanized Areas that May Affect Cities in Galveston County
- Submitted By:
- Nick Finan, Management Services
- Department:
- Management Services
ACTION REQUEST (Brief Summary)
Our consultant on Transit Services within the City of Texas City is requesting we pass a resolution that will support two State Bills (House Bill 578 and Senate Bill 505 (see attached)), if enacted, would protect Texas City’s existing allocation of state transit funding which is based, in part, on the City of Dickinson’s population and density base contribution to the formula used to determine the amount of state transit funding currently utilized by the GCC.
BACKGROUND
Attached is a memorandum from our consultant on the matter of these two agenda items on Transit Funding: Here is the text in it's entirety.
"Representatives of The Goodman Corporation (TGC) have been working with Representative Ryan Guillen, Senator Tommy Williams, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on legislation to “hold harmless” the cities of Texas City. La Marque, Dickinson, and the City of Galveston and other jurisdictions within the State of Texas, against adverse impacts on state transit funding which might occur as a result of the FY 2010 U.S. Census changes to existing urbanized area boundaries. These changes will likely become effective in the spring of 2012.
Based upon discussion between representatives of TGC and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and a recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute, it is likely that the City of Dickinson, which currently is within the Texas City/La Marque small urbanized area, will be absorbed by the Houston Urbanized area. As a result, the state public transit trust funding which is received by Texas City/La Marque as a small urbanized area, and utilized by the Gulf Coast Center (GCC) for the provision to support transit services, will be lost since state transit funding is not available to large urbanized areas. The state public transit trust funding which is currently received by the GCC helps to match federal funding which is used to support GCC’s fixed route transit service.
House Bill 578 and Senate Bill 505 (see attached), if enacted, would protect Texas City’s existing allocation of state transit funding which is based, in part, on the City of Dickinson’s population and density base contribution to the formula used to determine the amount of state transit funding currently utilized by the GCC. Accordingly, it is my recommendation that the Texas City Council pass a Resolution supporting the proposed legislation. Similar Resolutions have been adopted by the City of Galveston, City of Dickinson, Galveston County Transit District, Montgomery County, The Woodlands Township, and other potentially impacted jurisdictions.
We will be pursuing a similar remedy to protect the City of Dickinson’s fair share of federal transit funding through the new congressional Transportation Authorizing legislation which likely will not be considered until FY 2012."
"Representatives of The Goodman Corporation (TGC) have been working with Representative Ryan Guillen, Senator Tommy Williams, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on legislation to “hold harmless” the cities of Texas City. La Marque, Dickinson, and the City of Galveston and other jurisdictions within the State of Texas, against adverse impacts on state transit funding which might occur as a result of the FY 2010 U.S. Census changes to existing urbanized area boundaries. These changes will likely become effective in the spring of 2012.
Based upon discussion between representatives of TGC and the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and a recent study by the Texas Transportation Institute, it is likely that the City of Dickinson, which currently is within the Texas City/La Marque small urbanized area, will be absorbed by the Houston Urbanized area. As a result, the state public transit trust funding which is received by Texas City/La Marque as a small urbanized area, and utilized by the Gulf Coast Center (GCC) for the provision to support transit services, will be lost since state transit funding is not available to large urbanized areas. The state public transit trust funding which is currently received by the GCC helps to match federal funding which is used to support GCC’s fixed route transit service.
House Bill 578 and Senate Bill 505 (see attached), if enacted, would protect Texas City’s existing allocation of state transit funding which is based, in part, on the City of Dickinson’s population and density base contribution to the formula used to determine the amount of state transit funding currently utilized by the GCC. Accordingly, it is my recommendation that the Texas City Council pass a Resolution supporting the proposed legislation. Similar Resolutions have been adopted by the City of Galveston, City of Dickinson, Galveston County Transit District, Montgomery County, The Woodlands Township, and other potentially impacted jurisdictions.
We will be pursuing a similar remedy to protect the City of Dickinson’s fair share of federal transit funding through the new congressional Transportation Authorizing legislation which likely will not be considered until FY 2012."