Staff recommends the TAC approve the 2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) and recommend it to the Yellowstone County Board of Planning, Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners and City Council for final local approval.

The City-County Planning Division is presenting the Draft 2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for TAC review and recommendation to the MPO's governing bodies. The UPWP is primarily for the purpose of programming the federal dollars that Billings receives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for transportation planning and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for transit (MET) planning. These funds are passed through the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). All transportation planning activities are included in the UPWP so that it represents a comprehensive document for the urban transportation planning program. This UPWP proposes planning activities for Federal Fiscal Year 2024, which runs from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. This UPWP corresponds directly with the Planning Division’s annual work plan. The significant changes in this year’s program include completion of an update to the Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan, the 21st Street Underpass Study, and the Transportation sections of the Billings Heights and West End Neighborhood Plans. The Transit section is Chapter II of the UPWP. The document is consistent with past programs in its content and format.

Local review of the UPWP each year goes through public discussion sessions, work sessions and regular business meetings of the City Council, Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners, and Yellowstone County Board of Planning (Planning Board). The Planning Board also conducts a legally advertised public hearing at one of its meetings to review the UPWP. The public is able to provide comment or questions at any of the meetings, as well as provide formal public testimony at the Planning Board. 

TAC may:

• Approve the UPWP as drafted and give a positive recommendation to the governing bodies; or
• Make amendments to the program document, approve it, and give a positive recommendation to the governing bodies; or
• Reject the program and give a negative recommendation to the governing bodies. Rejection of the UPWP would conflict with the operations of the Billings MPO, mean a significant reduction in funding to complete planning activities in Billings and Yellowstone County, and would affect staff, resources, and future transportation planning processes and programs.

Approval of the 2024 UPWP allows the City to access Federal funds for transportation planning in the community. Federal and local funds are combined to provide most of the planning work done by the Planning Division for the City and the County. If the UPWP is not approved, there would be a significant loss of resources for community planning and the community's ability to manage transportation planning projects and programs would be severely limited. The breakdown of funding sources for the FY 2024 UPWP is estimated below:

• $260,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (City of Billings)
• $170,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (Yellowstone County)
• $595,000 Yellowstone County Planning Levy
• $1,447,790 Federal Planning (PL) Allocation

           $2,472,790 Total Local and Federal Program Funding (UPWP)