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8 . 2015 VIA **EMAI~ (Jarl}eS~l:** **Brown@. foq** **gov)** : ' -- ·
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. James T. Brown

.... - . '."!II Finance Management Division Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave

. , SW Wash

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. ' Re: Alameda County Transportation Commission's Action Plan in Response to FAA Change
in Policy and Procedures Concerning the Use of Airport Revenue (79 FR 66282

- Ql ;Docket FAA-2Q.13.,0988} Dear

· Mr

.. Brown: Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC), a local taxing authority
in C a lifornia, has learned through the grapevine of the FAA's Change
in Policy and Procedures Concerning **th~**Use of Airport Revenue (79 FR 66282-0

1 ; Docket FAA-2013

- 0988) ("FAA's Change
in Policy and Procedures

" ). Alameda CTC never received any · · official notice of this change or any official information
as to how the Alameda CTC might be affected, neither during the rulemaking process nor upon final adoption. We have

l earned that the FAA

' s Change

i n Policy and Procedures states that local taxing authorities should submit an action plan by December

8, 2015 providing for the expenditure
of local sales tax revenues derived from aviation fuel on airport capital and operating costs

, and implement the action plan by December

8 , 2017. By this letter

, Alameda CTC

i s respond

i ng to the FAA

' s Change

i n Policy and Procedures with the following action plan. The FAA interprets restrictions on the use of "local taxes on aviat

i on fuel (except taxes

i n effect on December 30
, 1987
} in 49 U.S

. C. § 47 1 0 7{ b) and 49 U
. S.C. § 47133{a } t o include local sales tax revenue derived from aviation fuel. The Alameda CTC administers

a half cent transportation sales tax

( " Measure B") originally approved by the voters of Alameda County

i n November 1986 and first collected

in April 1987

, and t hereaf

t er exte n ded by voter appro
v al in November 2000 through 2022

. We believe that funds generated by Measure

B should not be affected by the FAA Change
in Policy and Procedures, since this tax was in effect prior to December 30, 1987. The Alameda CTC will also be administering the extension and augmentation
of this same tr ansporta

ti on sales

t ax beg

i nning Apri

l 2022

t hrough March 2045

( " Meas
u re BB " ). TheMr. James T. Brown December

8, 2015 Page2 augmentation

is for an additional half cent transportation sales tax. which may fall under the authori1y of the FAA's Change
in Policy and Procedures. However, transportation sales tax funds generated by Measure BB are specifically designated for transportation projects and programs ident\fled
in the 2014 Transportation Expenditure Plan underlying the voter-approved Measure BB. If FAA's Change
in Policy and Procedures

is applied to Measure BB, Alameda CTC would have to amend the Transportation Expenditure Plan through an additional approval process to permit the reallocation
of tax revenues. Without such an amendment. Alameda CTC would have no legal ability to spend the Measure BB sales tax funds on anything other than what was included
in the original Transportation Expenditure Plan. Within Alameda County there are 3 public airports including·. Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, Hayward Executive Airport, and Livermore Municipal Airport.

It would be very difficult for the Alameda CTC to estimate the portion of transportation sales tax revenues that were derived from aviation and jet fuel. Measure Band Measure BB sales and use taxes are collected by California State Board of Equalization (BOE), and then distributed to Alameda CTC. Alameda CTC does not currently have access to a breakdown
of sales tax revenue received from aviation and jet fuel from the BOE, since the BOE does not ask taxpayers to provide this information at the present time. In addition, any estimate would be subject to volatility based on the fluctuating price of fuel. However, the Alameda CTC believes that the affected transportation sales tax revenues derived from aviation fuel in 2022 and forward on an annualized basis could be roughly $400,000 (in constant 2015 dollars). Historically, expenditures
of transportation sales tax revenues by Alameda CTC and its predecessors on airport related projects have far exceeded the estimated amount of transportation sales tax revenues generated by sales of aviation fuel. These projects Include $121 million for the Airport Roadway Project $26 million for the 1-880 Hegenberger Road Interchange, and $30 million for the 98
1 h Avenue Interchange improvement

all of which were projects designed to improve highway access to the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, and over $89 million for a connector train system providing easier transit access between Bay Area Rapid Transit and the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport. The 2014 Transportation Expenditure Plan which supports the new Measure BB
, the augmentation portion of which may be affected by the FAA's Change
in Policy and Procedures, includes $161 million for countywide freight corridors including Outer Harbor lntermodal TerminaL 71h Street Grade Separation and Roadway Improvement, and Truck Routes serving the Port of Oakland, the agency which owns and operates the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, along with $77.4 million designated for a freight and economic development program for which improvements serving the airport would be eligible. Over the next couple of years, Alameda CTC intends to confirm that it complies with the FAA Change
in Policy and Procedures based on capital expenditures
of impactedMr
. Jam es T. Brown Dece mber
8 , 2015 Poge 3 transportation sales tax revenues. Alameda CTC will continue to refine estimates of both relevant transportation sales tax revenues and expenditures on capital projects for local airports to ensure that Alameda CTC complies with the FAA Change
in Policy and Procedures.

I f
i t
i s determ

i ned that sales tax revenues derived from av

i at

i on fuel exceed expenditures on airport capital projects, Alameda CTC will cons

i der a legis lativ e solution, such as an amendment
to the 2014 Transportation Expenditure Plan. Executive Director Alameda County Transportation Commission cc: Patricia Reavey, Alameda CTC Director of Finance and Admin

i stration M. Zack Wasserman, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean