Staff recommends the Planning Board review the Draft 2022 UPWP and conduct a public hearing at this meeting. The Board is scheduled to take action on the Draft 2022 UPWP (recommended) at its August 10 meeting and instruct PCC Designee President Woods to give a positive recommendation to PCC for final local approval.

The City-County Planning Division is presenting the 2022 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Planning Board review and recommendation to the Billings Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). At this meeting, the Board is scheduled to review the document and conduct a public hearing. At the August 10th Planning Board meeting, the Planning Board is scheduled to take action on the UPWP and forward that recommendation to the PCC.

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 2022, which runs from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022. 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 2018 Long Range Transportation Plan, Phase II of the Safe Routes to School Plan, and completion of the North Bypass Corridor Study. The Transit section is Chapter II of the UPWP. The document is consistent with past programs in its content and format.

The Planning Board is scheduled to review the draft document at this meeting and conduct a public hearing. Ultimately, at the Board's Auguat 10 meeting, the Planning Board may:

• Approve the UPWP as drafted and instruct President Woods to give a positive recommendation with amendments to PCC; or
• Make amendments to the program document and instruct President Woods to give a positive recommendation with amendments to PCC; or
• Reject the program and instruct President Woods 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 2022 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 2022 UPWP is estimated below:

• $280,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (City of Billings)
• $155,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (Yellowstone County)
• $523,000 Yellowstone County Planning Levy
• $1,679,581 Federal Planning (PL) Allocation

$2,637,581 Total Local and Federal Program Funding (UPWP)