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LE-36. Funding for Non -Municipal <br />State Aid City Streets <br />Issue: Minnesota has over 141,000 miles of <br />roadway, and more than 22,500 miles —or <br />16 percent --are owned and maintained by <br />Minnesota's 853 cities. <br />The Minnesota Constitution limits eligibility <br />for dedicated Highway User Tax <br />Distribution Fund dollars to up to twenty <br />percent of streets in cities with populations <br />over 5,000 (147 of 853 cities). This means <br />almost 85 percent of municipal streets are <br />ineligible for municipal state aid (MSA) <br />funds and must be paid for with property <br />taxes and special assessments. Funding <br />challenges are compounded by city cost <br />participation requirements in state and <br />county highway projects, which divert <br />resources from city -owned streets. <br />Recognizing the unique street funding needs <br />in cities under 5,000 population, the 2015 <br />legislature created the Small Cities <br />Assistance Account (Minn. Stat. § 162.145). <br />Funds in the account are distributed through <br />a formula to all cities under 5,000 <br />population for street maintenance and <br />reconstruction. Unfortunately, funding for <br />the account was only provided for one year. <br />Maintenance costs increase as road systems <br />age, and no city --large or small —is <br />spending enough on roadway capital <br />improvements to maintain a 50-year <br />lifecycle. For every one dollar spent on <br />maintenance, a road authority --and therefore <br />taxpayers --save seven dollars in repairs. <br />According to a report released in late 2012 <br />by the governor's Transportation Finance <br />Advisory Committee, cities collectively <br />need an additional $400 million per year to <br />bring city streets up to an economically <br />competitive standard. <br />Response: City streets are a separate but <br />integral piece of the network of roads <br />supporting movement of people and <br />goods. Cities need greater resources and <br />flexible policies in order to meet growing <br />demands for street improvements and <br />maintenance. The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports: <br />a) A dedicated and sustainable state <br />funding source for non-MSA city <br />streets in large and small cities <br />statewide; <br />b) enabling legislation that would allow <br />cities to create street improvement <br />districts (similar to sidewalk <br />improvement districts already allowed <br />under Minn. Stat. § 435.44); and <br />c) the creation of a new fund within the <br />Local Road Improvement Program <br />that would provide grants to cities <br />burdened by cost participation <br />requirements related to trunk <br />highway and county state -aid projects. <br />LE-37. Complete Streets <br />Issue: There is increasing public support for <br />the reform of local street design policies to <br />make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists <br />and neighborhood residents. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports reforms in state design <br />guidelines for local streets that would give <br />cities greater flexibility to safely <br />accommodate all modes of travel, <br />including walking and biking. The state <br />should also provide incentives such as <br />grants to local units of government <br />working to advance complete street <br />projects. Crosswalks and Safe Routes to <br />School projects should be eligible for <br />incentives. <br />The League opposes state imposed <br />unfunded mandates that would increase <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 76 <br />