The evening speaker was Celia McAdam, Executive Director of the Placer County Transportation Agency. Celia provided insight into the upcoming ballot Measure ‘M’ on the November election for Placer County. Measure ‘M’ will add a ½ percent increase to the current sales tax for Placer County to be used exclusively for Transportation projects throughout the County.

Celia mentioned that 30% of sales tax revenue within Placer County comes from outsiders or individuals who do not live within Placer County. Anybody who has driven east bound Interstate 80 on just about any Friday evening or west bound on Sunday afternoon, has encountered the heavy traffic from some of these individuals. So those of us who live or work within Placer County will benefit from the additional revenue being generated.

Measure ‘M’ is anticipated to generate approximately $1.5 billion over the 30 years of the life of Measure ‘M’. These dollars will be will added to the anticipated gas tax and proposed developer fees for improvements throughout Placer County. Additionally the proposed sales tax dollars will be used for maintenance of existing roadways, new bake paths, new bike lanes, new walking trails, new sidewalks and landscaping along existing roadways.