Ozone Season Transit Grant Program Flexibility

Section 1 2 of the bill increases the flexibility of the ozone season transit grant program by:

• Allowing an eligible transit agency that operates in an area in which ozone levels are typically highest during a different period than June 1 to August 31 of a calendar year to designate a different period of the calendar year for its "ozone season";
• Allowing a grant recipient to retain any grant money that it does not spend in the year in which it is received for use in a subsequent year Specifying that if the Colorado energy office (CEO) awards a grant for a year to a transit association or to the regional transportation district in an amount that is less than the applicable maximum amount allowed by law, then the maximum amount of such a grant that the CEO may award for the next year is increased by an amount equal to the amount that could have been but was not awarded for the prior year;
• Clarifying that a grant recipient may use grant money for reasonable marketing expenses incurred to raise awareness of free service and increase ridership;
• Clarifying that an eligible transit agency may use grant money to expand free services or free routes or increase the frequency of service on routes for which free service is already offered; and
• Allowing the regional transportation district to use grant money to cover the full costs, rather than up to 80% of the costs, of providing at least 30 days of free transit on all services that it offers.

On and after September 1, 2023, section 3 4 requires the governing body of the transportation planning organization for each transportation planning region to include at least one voting representative of a transit agency that provides transit service in the transportation planning region. The representative must be appointed by the transit agency or, if multiple transit agencies provide service in the transportation planning region, by agreement of the transit agencies. Section 2 3 defines the term "transportation planning organization" as used in section 3 4 .Section 5 increases the maximum rate of sales or use tax, or both, that a regional transportation authority (RTA) may impose, with voter approval, from one percent to 2%. Section 5 also makes permanent the existing power of a RTA to impose, with voter approval, a uniform mill levy of up to 5 mills, which power would otherwise expire at the end of the 2028 property tax year.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)