DRAFT 9/10/26
The Safe and Resilient County Roads Act
The people of Santa Cruz County ordain as follows:
Section 1. Title.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the “Safe and Resilient County Roads Act.”
Section 2. Findings and Declarations.
(a) The 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fires forced 64,000 Santa Cruz County residents to evacuate, yet no evacuation-resilience capital plan exists to guide investments that improve the roads on which we evacuate.
(b) Storm damage can directly impact the health of Santa Cruz County residents by reducing or eliminating access to medical services, schools, and work, yet there are at least 82 active storm damage sites in the County with an estimated repair cost of $66.8 million, according to the County’s County Road Storm Damage dashboard.
(c) The County has neglected to prepare for the next major storm by leaving 513 culverts in a failed or failing state and another 394 in poor condition, according to the County’s Culvert Assessment dashboard.
(d) By the year 2034, the pavement on 43.7 percent of county roads will be in “very poor” condition, and the deferred maintenance cost will increase from $293.7 million to $682.9 million dollars at current spending levels and according to the County’s 2025 Pavement Management Program Update.
(e) The third leading cause of premature death in Santa Cruz County is Road Injury, leading to approximately 260 years of life lost per 100,000 residents every year, according to the County’s 2025 Future of Public Health Initiative Annual Report.
(f) Santa Cruz County is currently ranked as the worst county in the State of California for bicyclists killed and injured per capita and is ranked eleventh worst in the State for pedestrians killed and injured per capita according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Section 3. Statement of Purpose.
It is the purpose and intent of the people of Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz to ensure that sufficient local tax dollars are invested in the most widely used public service: roads; to keep roads safe, open and resilient to storms, wildfires and other natural disasters; and not to levy any new taxes to achieve these goals, but rather dedicate existing local tax revenues for road, road drainage, and road culvert construction and maintenance.
Section 4. Santa Cruz County Safe and Resilient County Roads Act.
Chapter 4.70 is added to Title 4 of the Code of the County of Santa Cruz, to read as follows:
Chapter 4.70
SAFE AND RESILIENT COUNTY ROADS ACT
4.70.010 Title and purpose.
This chapter may be cited as the “Safe and Resilient County Roads Act.” It is the purpose and intent of the people of Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz to ensure that sufficient local tax dollars are invested in the most widely used public service: roads; to keep roads safe, open and resilient to storms, wildfires and other natural disasters; and not to levy any new taxes to achieve these goals, but rather dedicate existing local tax revenues for road, road drainage, and road culvert construction and maintenance.
4.70.020 Definitions.
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section.
(A) “Road Infrastructure” includes roads, road drainage, road culverts, sidewalks, and associated road infrastructure in the unincorporated area of the County of Santa Cruz, including but not limited to those items contained within SCCC 4.70.060.
(B) “Unrestricted General Fund” means all general purpose revenues received from taxes as reflected in the County’s adopted annual budget including, but not limited to Property Taxes (including in Lieu Vehicle License Fees, Residual Distribution, Supporting and other related categories), general purpose Sales and Use Taxes, Transient Occupancy Taxes, Assessments, Deed/Documentary Transfer Tax, and Cannabis Business Tax. It does not include existing revenues that are dedicated to transportation such as Highway User Tax Account (HUTA) revenues, Senate Bill 1 funds, County Service Areas fees, Measure D (2016) revenues, Traffic Impact Fees, FEMA funds or CALOES funds.
(C) Evacuation Planning Area means the areas used for evacuation planning purposes in the Santa Cruz County Operational Area Emergency Operations Plan ESF #13: Public Safety and Security Evacuation Appendix, or another area approved by the Board of Supervisors.
(D) Safety Margin means the difference between the time it takes for residents to evacuate (the Required Safe Egress Time) and the time it takes for a fire to reach residents and impact evacuation routes (Available Safe Egress Time).
4.70.030 Annual budgeting requirements.
Every fiscal year, no less than ten percent (10%) of all County Unrestricted General Fund money will be deposited into a dedicated Road Infrastructure Fund (the Fund), until such time that all of the following conditions are met:
All of the County’s Evacuation Planning Areas have an adequate Safety Margin for residents to evacuate, as determined by an independent analysis; and
All road storm damage sites that have matching federal and/or state funds available OR reduce a lane of travel on roads considered major collectors and larger, have sufficient monies in the Fund for repair; and
All road culverts identified as needing replacement or being in poor condition have sufficient monies in the Fund for repair; and
The County Road Pavement Condition Index (PCI) averages at least 70 out of 100, as measured within the County’s Pavement Management Program and as reported to receive State and federal funds, and all roads with one hundred trips per day or more have a PCI of no less than 60; and
Santa Cruz County is among the twenty safest counties in the State of California for all of the following categories: Pedestrians, Pedestrians < 15, Pedestrians 65+, Bicycle, and Bicyclist < 15, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s Crash Rankings, based on a three-year rolling average of the most recent data available.
4.70.040 Implementation and suspension.
(A) The annual budgeting requirement set forth in SCCC 4.70.030 shall take effect beginning with the first adopted budget following adoption of the ordinance codifying this Chapter.
(B) If Unrestricted General Fund revenues fall by 10% or more compared to the prior fiscal year’s adopted budget, the Board of Supervisors may, by a four-fifths vote, suspend the requirements of this section for the County’s next fiscal year.
4.70.050 Annual reporting requirements.
Every fiscal year a report shall be made publicly available and presented to the Board of Supervisors as part of Budget Hearings that details:
(A) the County’s status in meeting the conditions outlined of SCCC 4.70.030;
(B) the total amount of Unrestricted General Fund that will be allocated under this Chapter for the next fiscal year and the current balance of the Road Infrastructure Fund ;
(C) the projects that the Road Infrastructure Fund be applied to and how they will optimize progress towards meeting the conditions outlined in 4.70.030; and
(D) a list of upcoming projects and their relative priority.
4.70.060 Use of funds.
(A) Funds allocated under this Chapter to the dedicated Road Infrastructure Fund may be spent for construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of any Road Infrastructure improvement or safety improvement related to Road Infrastructure, including but not limited to:
Road resurfacing and surface replacement;
Cross-culverts carrying road drainage and associated drainage ditches;
Improvements that improve evacuation times;
Signage;
Stoplights;
Rapid flashing beacons;
Delineators;
Striping;
Speedbumps;
Speed feedback signs;
Sidewalks;
Bike and pedestrian bridges;
Local matching funds for State or federal grants for Road Infrastructure; and
Temporary and permanent storm damage repairs to Road Infrastructure
(B) Funds shall not be used for general administrative overhead unrelated to Road Infrastructure, but may be used for staff and support costs directly necessary to design, deliver, and implement eligible projects.
(C) Projects will be prioritized based on safety impact, cost-effectiveness, and the extent to which projects address the conditions identified in SCCC 4.70.030.
4.70.070 Enforcement.
Any resident of the unincorporated area of the County shall have standing to enforce this Chapter through an action for declaratory or injunctive relief. Notwithstanding this, this Chapter does not create a private cause of action against the County for damages in any respect.
4.70.080 Conflict with other laws.
In the event of a conflict between this Chapter and any other provision of the County Code, this Chapter shall prevail.
4.70.090 Severability.
If any provision of this Chapter is found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, that invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions of this Chapter which can be implemented without the invalid provisions, and to this end, the provisions of this Chapter are declared to be severable. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted this Chapter and each provision thereof irrespective of whether any one or more provisions are found invalid, unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable.
4.70.100 Implementation Date.
This Act shall be considered adopted upon the date the vote is declared by the District board and shall go into effect immediately.
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