The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 5, No. 28 - July 9, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................7 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Legal Aid for Elders...........4 Food.......................................5 Legals.................................4,6 Real Estate...........................8 Sports....................................3 TerriAnn in Torrance..........7 Weekend Forecast Tribune Goes North for the Fourth Donna and Gary Duperron traveled with the Torrance Tribune to the Farmer’s Market in San Luis Obispo over the July 4th weekend. They were joined by members of the Cal Poly men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs. Photo courtesy of Donna Duperron. Friday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 69˚/61˚ Saturday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 72˚/62˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 75˚/64˚ City Submits Annual Claim for Torrance Transit System By Cristian Vasquez “The remaining 50 percent is derived from a Through the recommendation of the city’s factor called ‘fare units.’ Fare units are calculated Transit Director Kim Turner, the Torrance by dividing the bus system’s total annual City Council approved the submittal of its farebox revenue by the system’s base fare.” annual claim to the Los Angeles County The formula excludes the system’s bus Metropolitan Authority [METRO] in the miles from the weekend. Furthermore, the amount of $5,939,241 for Transportation recent percentage generated by the 50-50 Development Act [TDA] funds. formula designation for Torrance’s share of The city’s submittal will also claim $930,966 countywide funding allocations for TDA, STA, in State Transit Assistance [STA] funds. Both Measure A and Proposition A Discretionary claims will be collected for the Torrance monies is at 1.7077 percent. Transit System 2015-2016 Fiscal Year. “METRO and the Southern California “This is a request to approve an annual Association of Governments [SCAG] prescribe submittal of a claim to the Los Angeles the particular forms contained in the Claim, as Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority well as its overall format,” indicates the staff [METRO],” Transit Administrative Manager report. “Recipients, nonetheless, determine Jim Mills said as he addressed the council. the purpose fore which the monies are used.” “The funds are distributed on a formula basis In an effort to offset operating costs of and will be used to operate transit services the city’s transit system, staff programmed during fiscal year 2015-2016.” Each year the Torrance Transit System is the recipient of transit subsidy funds that are made available by a state statute. The funds are made available based on a formula used to determine the amount of grant monies needed in order to finance the operating and capital needs of the cities’ transit line. “These funds are shared by formula with all of the other included and eligible systems in Los Angeles County,” states the staff report signed by Turner. The staff report also highlights the specific types of funding sources that are allocated by METRO every year and include: Transportation Development Act [TDA], State Transit Assistance [STA], Proposition A Discretionary funds, Measure R funds and Federal Transit Assistance [FTA] Section 5307 capital allocations. “The formula used for distributing the four primary funding sources of TDA, STA, Measure R and Proposition A Discretionary is based on 50 percent of the recipient’s annual systemwide bus miles,” states the staff report. the totals of $5,939,241 in TDA monies and $930,966 in STA funds. The claim presented by the city requires the transit system to identify and set aside funds as a local match to federal grant monies to be used for capital expenses. The California Department of Transportation [Caltrans] has received approval by the Federal Highway Administration [FHWA] and the Federal Transit Administration [FTA] to use toll credits for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. “The region receives credits for the vehicle service miles that are traveled and we realized that we weren’t getting any credits for the tolls,” Mills said. “Rather than asking transit agencies to provide a local match, they have allowed us to have a toll credit based on the amount of tolls that were accumulated See City Council, page 6 School Board Moves Forward With Budget By Cristian Vasquez With the state’s legislators’ approval and Governor Jerry Brown’s signing of the budget, the Torrance School Board approved its own budget during its June 29 board meeting. “The State of California has approved a budget and the governor signed it so at this point we go ahead and adopt ours. We will come back within 45 days and adopted it again, once all of the legislative actions are completed,” Deputy Superintendent Administrative Services Dr. Donald Stabler said. “Within 45 days we have to come back and adopt it again based on any changes but we do have the ability to star spending for the new fiscal year.” The new fiscal year began July 1 and the approved budget allows the district to spend what has been allocated in order to cover operating costs and other expenditures that must at once be made by the district. Gov. Brown’s signature of the new $167.6-billion budget focuses on expanding childcare and boosting funding for public schools. The budget is the final compromise between Gov. Brown and Democratic legislatures which agreed to secure additional funds several government services, including education. During the June 15 board meeting, Dr. Stabler made a budget presentation where he addressed some of the district’s financial issues, such as the district’s See School Board, page 6
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