Santa Cruz RTC exploring borrowing money for projects

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (KION-TV) - The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) may be changing the scope of the coastal rail trail project in the face of funding problems.

According to a staff report, the Measure D funds that make up a bulk of the commission's budget have been getting spent faster than they're being accrued.

The commission is passing motions today to look into financing options for short or long-term borrowing, as well as developing strategies that will reduce costs and avoid delays. This deals specifically with beginning segments 8 through 11 of the project.

Those strategies could include scaling down the project's scope. Staff also recommending that the city, county and other sponsors work directly with the RTC to help reduce costs.

"That's the intent of my motion, its to I think bring an additional degree of accountability from a financial standpoint and also to present us with a couple different plans, what do we have to pay and finance, what might we have to finance in the future and we can make decisions around scope at that point," said Scotts Valley City Council Member Steve Clark.

Keeping projects on track is especially important, as a delay could lead to the California Transportation Commission taking back some grant money.

The commission is expected to receive a report on possible financing options by December, as well as a decision whether to move forward with railbanking the line or instantiating a zero emission passenger train.

If the funding can be sorted out, the RTC says that they may begin planning for segment 9 in 2026.