Agenda - Council - 02/08/2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Minnesota Constitution limits eligibility for dedicated Highway User Tax Distribution Fund dollars to up to twenty percent of streets in cities with populations over 5,000 (147 of 853 cities). This means almost 85 percent of municipal streets are ineligible for municipal state aid (MSA) funds and must be paid for with property taxes and special assessments. Funding challenges are compounded by city cost participation requirements in state and county highway projects, which divert resources from city -owned streets. Recognizing the unique street funding needs in cities under 5,000 population, the 2015 legislature created the Small Cities Assistance Account (Minn. Stat. § 162.145). Funds in the account are distributed through a formula to all cities under 5,000 population for street maintenance and reconstruction. Unfortunately, funding for the account has only been provided for three times. Because Small Cities Assistance funding has been provided so inconsistently, small cities have had difficulty using the revenue stream as a tool to maximize pavement management and street improvement planning. Maintenance costs increase as road systems age, and no city --large or small is spending enough on roadway capital improvements to maintain a 50-year lifecycle. For every one dollar spent on maintenance, a road authority --and therefore taxpayers --save seven dollars in repairs. According to a report released in late 2012 by the governor's Transportation Finance Advisory Committee, cities collectively need an additional $400 million per year to bring city streets up to an economically competitive standard. Response: City streets are a separate but integral piece of the network of roads supporting movement of people and 99 goods. Cities need greater resources and flexible policies in order to meet growing demands for street improvements and maintenance. The League of Minnesota Cities supports: a) A dedicated and sustainable state funding source for non-MSA city streets in large and small cities statewide; b) enabling legislation that would allow cities to create street improvement districts (similar to sidewalk improvement districts already allowed under Minn. Stat. § 435.44); and c) the creation of a new fund within the Local Road Improvement Program that would provide grants to cities burdened by cost participation requirements related to trunk highway and county state -aid projects. LE-40. Authority to Allow Amenities in MnDOT Rights -of - Way Issue: Cities served by the state's trunk highway system frequently request features on the highway right-of-way (ROW) that would improve the aesthetics of the highway or provide public amenities exceeding components the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation (MnDOT) may include. Minn. Stat. §161.20, Subd. 2(b), gives the MnDOT commissioner authority to make agreements with and cooperate with any governmental authority relating to trunk highway construction and improvements; however, Minn. Stat. §161.434 provides that arrangements and agreements must be "for highway purposes". These restrictions are problematic in cities where a downtown commercial area exists along a trunk highway. Some of these cities desire amenities that would make