Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/27/2020

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documents also gave us important data to consider each cities' local road expenditures. While the documents gave us some road funding information, the interviews filled in the gaps for funding sources not included in documents and provided additional insight for why certain funding mechanisms were employed in each city. Procedure for Constructing the Sample of Cities A purposeful sampling procedure was used to select the comparable cities for the interviews with City Administrators or Managers. Comparable cities were identified using a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria that were developed, in part, with the input of the City of Ramsey. These criteria include population size between 15,000 and 100,000, location in the seven -county metro region, and per capita spending on roads between $50-$150. Each of the criteria used to bound the sample in this study were purposefully chosen. The study used population size because a similar amount of traffic will produce a similar amount of wear and tear on the roads. The study limited the sample to cities within the seven -county metro region because cities within this region will have comparable weather patterns and traffic conditions, both of which also impact the rate at which roads sustain wear and tear. Finally, the study used per capita spending on roads to restrict the sample to cities that closely resemble the City of Ramsey's current road funding levels, controlling for population. The sample for our first wave of recruitment consisted of two cities from each of the seven counties in the metro region with the exception of Carver.5 The study initially used the criteria of two cities per county because the research aims to provide a balanced look at cities across the metro, and to control for any differences in road fiscal policy between counties. Due to the low response rate in our first wave, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we broadened our sample to a second wave of cities, dispersed throughout each of the counties with comparable cities. The cities were identified using State Auditor data from 2017 (the latest year available) to confirm population size, location in the seven -county metro region, and road spending per capita.6 Research Design The study design included literature review, preliminary interviews, recruitment, interviews, and analysis phases and took place over the course of roughly three months from February through April 2020 (Table 1). We began by conducting a background research and a literature review at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The research team next conducted an informal background interview with our client, the City Administrator of the City of Ramsey, to better understand the unique social, economic, and political context in Ramsey. We then arranged an informational interview with a local transportation expert to gain a better background and understanding of the different road funding techniques and options available to local governments in Minnesota. From these interviews and conversations, we developed the sample's inclusion and exclusion criteria, the interview protocol seen in Appendix C, and the potential criteria cities use to assess different local road funding techniques (equity, efficiency, adequacy, and feasibility). An illustrative conceptual framework of the research design can be found in Appendix D. 5 Only one city from Carver County fit within the bounds of our other inclusion and exclusion criteria so only one city was included. 6 Minnesota Office of the State Auditor's comparison tool https: //www. auditor. state.mn.us/default. aspx?page=ComparisonTools 4