Eleven Mayors Urge Board of Supervisors to Place Better Roads, Safe Streets Measure on November Ballot
Delaying the measure will have “severe, even dangerous, consequences” for the health and safety of county residents.
On Tuesday, July 14, 2026, a majority of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to effectively delay ballot placement of the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure — officially the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act — by ordering a fiscal study that county staff must complete before the state-mandated deadline of August 7, 2026, in order for the measure to appear on the November 2026 ballot. It’s a timeline staff have indicated they may not be able to meet. It’s also the first time the Board has ordered a study of this kind for a citizen-led measure. The Board’s role in placing a qualified citizen initiative on the ballot is ministerial, meaning the Board must place the measure on a ballot regardless of the study’s outcome.
The measure would extend the county’s current half-cent transportation sales tax (Measure C), which is set to expire on June 30, 2027. If Better Roads, Safe Streets is delayed past the 2026 general election, the county would face at least a full year with no locally generated transportation revenue before voters even get another chance to weigh in — a gap of at least $120 million for road, sidewalk, and public transit projects and services across the county starting in July 2027. The impact would be felt in every one of the county’s 15 cities.
Mayors Call for Urgent Action
In response, 11 of Fresno County’s 15 mayors sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to expedite completion of the study, convene a special meeting if necessary, and place the measure on the November 2026 ballot by the August 7th deadline. The letter warns that further delay will have “severe, even dangerous, consequences” for the health and safety of county residents.
The letter was signed by:
These leaders understand what’s at stake: without a local transportation measure, streets and roads will continue to deteriorate and needed safety improvements will be delayed. Cities will lose critical local matching funds needed to compete for state and federal transportation grants. Jobs will be lost, and the region’s economy will take a significant hit.
Billions in Economic Impact, Thousands of Jobs on the Line
Better Roads, Safe Streets is projected to generate $13.4 billion in local economic activity, including $5 billion in labor income and 68,000 jobs over the measure’s 30-year life. If the measure doesn’t make the November ballot, that potential is lost — and the damage would start immediately. Fresno County has already identified 90 jobs at risk, from engineers to road crew workers, and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer says the City of Fresno could lose 217 more if the revenue isn’t replaced.
Any lapse in funding would also force drastic cuts to public transit, directly impacting the 80% of Fresno County transit riders who depend on public transportation for essential services.
A Decision That Belongs to Voters
More than one million Fresno County residents — including over 500,000 registered voters — are at risk of having just three people make this monumental decision for them.
Perhaps the most troubling part of the situation is how avoidable it is. A fiscal analysis of the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure has already been completed and submitted to the County of Fresno, and the county has had six months since the measure was filed in January to order its own study. As it stands, three supervisors are putting the future of every city in the county at risk over a deadline that may be missed by as little as a single business day.
The 11 mayors are asking the Board of Supervisors to right this wrong — not just for the region’s roads, but for the basic democratic principle that the people should decide the issues that shape their future. Fresno County voters should not be denied the chance to decide this important issue for another 16 months simply because of a missed day or two.