Staff recommends the City Council approve the 2024 UPWP and instruct PCC Designee Mayor Cole to take its recommendation to PCC for final local approval.

The City-County Planning Division is presenting the 2024 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 City Council had the opportunity during its August 7th Work Session meeting to receive a presentation from staff and ask questions. During this regular meeting, the Council is scheduled to take action on the UPWP and forward its recommendation to the PCC. The PCC will hold its meeting August 30 for final local approval. 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 and provides coordination between the Billings MPO, Montana Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration.

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 and already adopted FY24 city budget. The significant changes in this year’s program include continuing to update to the 2024 Bike and Pedestrian Plan, the 21st Street Underpass Study, and inclusion of transportation elements of neighborhood planning studies for the West End and Heights. 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, 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 where the public can provide formal testimony on the UPWP. The public is also able to provide comment or questions at any public meeting where the Council is considering the item. No public comment had been received by the Planning Division staff at the time this memo was drafted.

City Council may:

• Approve the UPWP as drafted and instruct Mayor Cole to give a positive recommendation PCC; or
• Make amendments to the program document, approve it, and instruct Mayor Cole to give a positive recommendation to PCC; or
• Reject the program and instruct Mayor Cole to give a negative recommendation to PCC. Rejection of the UPWP would conflict with the operations of the Billings MPO, conflict with the FY24 approved budget for the Planning Division, and 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)