Unincorporated county to receive $1,639,054 from excess SAFE reserves

Unincorporated San Diego County will receive $1,639,054 from excess reserve funds accumulated by the San Diego Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE).

The SAFE program is funded by a surcharge on vehicle registration fees. It was originally used to fund the installation and operation of call boxes along highways and is now also used for communication and rescue equipment. In 2012 State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher authored Assembly Bill 1572, which turned over SAFE responsibilities to the San Diego Association of Governments. AB 1572 also required SANDAG to distribute SAFE reserves in excess of $4 million to San Diego County’s 18 cities and to the unincorporated area in proportion to the vehicle registration fees paid by residents of each jurisdiction during Fiscal Year 2011.

SANDAG utilized independent accountants to review the SAFE program’s assets and liabilities and determined that approximately $9.85 million of excess reserves existed on September 13, 2012. SANDAG staff worked with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to determine registration fees paid by address and ZIP code. Residents of unincorporated San Diego County accounted for 16.6 percent of the registrations, thus entitling the unincorporated area to 16.6 percent of the total.

SANDAG’s board approved the distributions March 22 on a 17-0 vote with the SANDAG representatives from Encinitas and National City not being present.