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5. Funding for Non -State Aid City Streets <br />ISSUE: Minnesota has over 141,000 miles of roadway, and more than 22,500 miles —or 16 percent -- <br />are owned and maintained by Minnesota's 853 cities. The Minnesota Constitution limits eligibility for <br />dedicated Highway User Tax Distribution Fund dollars to up to twenty percent of streets in cities with <br />populations over 5,000 (147 of 853 cities). This means almost 85 percent of municipal streets are <br />ineligible for municipal state aid (MSA) funds and must be paid for with property taxes and special <br />assessments. Funding challenges are compounded by city cost participation requirements in state and <br />county highway projects, which divert resources from city -owned streets. <br />Recognizing the unique street funding needs in cities under 5,000 population, the 2015 legislature <br />created the Small Cities Assistance Account (Minn. Stat. § 162.145). Funds in the account are <br />distributed through a formula to all cities under 5,000 population for street maintenance and <br />reconstruction. Unfortunately, funding for the account was only provided for one year. <br />Maintenance costs increase as road systems age, and no city --large or small —is spending enough on <br />roadway capital improvements to maintain a 50-year lifecycle. For every one dollar spent on <br />maintenance, a road authority --and therefore taxpayers --save seven dollars in repairs. According to a <br />report released in late 2012 by the governor's Transportation Finance Advisory Committee, cities <br />collectively need an additional $400 million per year to bring city streets up to an economically <br />competitive standard. <br />RECOMMENDATIONS: City streets are a separate but integral piece of the network of roads supporting <br />movement of people and goods. Cities need greater resources and flexible policies in order to meet <br />growing demands for street improvements and maintenance. The City of Ramsey supports: <br />A. dedicated and sustainable state funding source for non-MSA city streets in large and small cities <br />statewide; <br />B. enabling legislation that would allow cities to create street improvement districts (similar to <br />stormwater districts or sidewalk improvement districts already allowed under Minn. Stat. § <br />435.44); <br />C. and the creation of a new fund within the Local Road Improvement Program that would provide <br />grants to cities burdened by cost participation requirements related to trunk highway and county <br />state -aid projects. <br />2018 City of Ramsey Legislative Platform <br />