SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – City Council for the City of South Lake Tahoe and the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement establishing the South Shore Transit Joint Powers Authority on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

The two government agencies held a joint meeting at City Hall in South Lake Tahoe to discuss and approve the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement outlining parameters for cooperatively implementing transit services.

The JPA formation began earlier this year when the city and county each approved starting negotiations with each other in February and March, respectively. The JPA’s general purpose is to jointly implement transit services in the Lake Tahoe south shore area, reducing vehicles mile traveled and providing more transit options.

Both the county and city selected DeeAnne Gillick as legal counsel to draft the JPA formation documents in compliance with state law.

The board and council approved the drafted agreement with one change to the quorum terms which define the minimum number of attending directors required in order to meet. The agreement establishes a governing board of directors consisting of two city council members and one county board member, both with alternates to service in their absence. The agreement drafted called for a quorum of two. However, the board and council agreed to change the quorum to require those two directors be made up of at least one city council member and one member of the county board of supervisors. This ensures both a representative from each agency is present in order to meet.

The agreement establishes the JPA as its own entity, incurring its own debts and liabilities separate from the member agencies.

The agreement also establishes two non-voting members from the South Shore Transportation Management Association and Tahoe Transportation District, the two current transit operators in the Tahoe portion of El Dorado County.

The agreement is drafted to ensure the JPA can operate transit outside of the county and city boundaries.

JPA startup costs are estimated at $150,000 for retaining legal counsel, staffing of an executive director, treasurer and secretary, as well as covering other costs. The city and county are to discuss a costs sharing agreement for those. An initial proposal discusses splitting the costs two-thirds to the city and one-third to the county.

The JPA board, set to be appointed by January 2025, will then consider an annual budget and work with regional state and federal agencies to plan, program, and secure funding for transit starting in the El Dorado County portion of the Tahoe basin.

Action approval requires a majority vote by the board except for a handful of decisions requiring unanimous vote. Those actions requiring unanimous vote include imposing fees, taxes or assessments, incurring debts, determining initial start up funds and creating employment positions.

Each member agency may create its own process related to limiting the authority of what their designated JPA representative can do on the JPA board.

Douglas County has recently expressed interest in participating in the JPA. The county and city decided to move forward with establishing the JPA on Oct. 15 despite Douglas County’s interest, since doing so did not preclude Douglas County’s participation in the future.

There was emphasis in the meeting’s discussion expressing how this JPA localizes transit control and thereby frees up Tahoe Transportation District to service all the five counties and provide transportation on a basin-wide level.

“Getting through this process is never easy,” Mayor Cody Bass said, “because it’s a big change of course, but for me, I see a really bright future for both TTD and the JPA.”

Deputy District Manager for TTD, Jim Marino, provided comment at the meeting informing everyone that the TTD has been working with the county and city and SSTMA on the JPA plan in what transit could potentially look like locally and regionally.

He said while TTD understands the premise of local control and applauds it, the district does not want to see it come at the cost of losing regional connectivity or commuter based connectivity to the Nevada side, especially Carson Valley where much of the workforce comes from.

This raised the question of how the new JPA will figure into existing services.

“It’s kind of a chicken and an egg scenario,” City Manager Joe Irvin said, explaining the JPA can’t talk about services without being formed first, but assured talks have been ongoing behind the scenes with TTD, TRPA, and the county to ensure a smooth transition and no regional disruption of service.

City Councilmember Devin Middlebrook said some faith will be required moving forward with the JPA acting as a forcing function to have these discussions. “Because for too long our transit system was defunct and not having these conversations.”

A recording of the meeting, and copy of the presented agreement is available on the City of South Lake Tahoe’s website under the City Council page.