Fresno County supervisors hear public comment on 30-year road tax measure
County supervisors delayed the Better Roads, Safe Streets tax plan by 3-2, sending it to a 30-day study and leaving its ballot fate uncertain.
Fresno County supervisors voted 3-2 to send the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation measure to a 30-day study, delaying a 30-year road tax proposal that supporters wanted to move straight to the November 2026 ballot. The decision came after public comment in the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting room and put Gary Bredefeld, Buddy Mendes and Nathan Magsig in the majority.
The board met at 9:30 a.m. on July 14 in a public session that opened with the invocation, flag salute and roll call. The meeting was recorded and posted publicly as the board moved through its regular business.
The transportation proposal was a successor to Measure C, Fresno County’s half-cent transportation sales tax that is set to expire in 2027. The Better Roads, Safe Streets campaign was a 30-year ballot measure aimed at keeping countywide road funding in place, with implications for street repairs, congestion relief and transportation priorities from Fresno and Clovis to Reedley, Selma, Sanger and Kingsburg.
The campaign had already gone through a lengthy qualification push. In February 2026, representatives from government, civic, labor and community organizations formally submitted a petition backing the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act. The effort had gathered more than 32,000 signatures from Fresno County voters. Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus verified more than 21,900 signatures from county residents, enough for ballot qualification.
The 3-2 study motion delayed the extension effort, which had drawn support from mayors and other local leaders pressing supervisors to place the measure before voters. The board’s conservative majority chose to delay the decision for another month, giving opponents and supporters more time to press their case.
Alongside the transportation fight, the agenda included proclamations, retirement recognitions and public health ordinances. The 30-day study pushes any decision on whether voters will see a Measure C successor back another month.
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