Staff recommends the City Council accept the 2021 UPWP as submitted and instruct PCC Designee Mayor Cole to give a positive recommendation to the Policy Coordinating Committee.
 

The City-County Planning Division is presenting the 2021 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for City Council review and recommendation to the Billings Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). The UPWP was presented at the Council's August 3 Work Session and staff is asking the Council to approve the UPWP and forward a recommendation of approval to the PCC at this meeting.

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 2021, which runs from October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021. This UPWP corresponds directly with the Planning Division’s annual work plan. The significant changes in this year’s program include an update to the Community Transportation Safety Plan, an update to the Billings Safe Routes to School Plan, and initiation of the North Bypass Corridor Study. The Transit section is located in Chapter II of the UPWP. The document is consistent with past programs in its content and format.

City Council may:

• Accept the document as submitted and instruct Mayor Cole to give a positive recommendation to PCC; or
• Make amendments to the program document and instruct Mayor Cole to give a positive recommendation with amendments to PCC; or
• Reject the program and instruct Mayor Cole to give a negative recommendation to PCC. Rejection of the UPWP would mean a significant reduction in funding to complete planning activities in Billings and Yellowstone County, and would affect staff, resources, future transportation planning processes and programs.

Approval of the 2021 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 City's approved FY21 budget estimates $960,000 in direct revenue to the Planning Division in Federal fund from this program.

The breakdown of funding sources for the FY 2021 UPWP is estimated below:
$250,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (City of Billings)
$75,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (Yellowstone County)
$503,000 Yellowstone County Planning Levy
$1,828,800 Federal Planning (PL) Allocation
$2,656,800 Total Program Funding (UPWP)