5.5. SR 03-24-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Executive Summary Introduction The purpose of this report is to assemble in one place much of the "need-to-know" information on municipal road and bridge funding in Minnesota's 854 cities. This report builds off of the outstanding work done by Mn/DOT and others in their efforts to inform policy makers and citizens of the state who are interested in gaining a better understanding of the workings of road and bridge infrastructure investment in Minnesota. Our intent in preparing this report is twofold: First, the report can serve as a resource for policy makers, city officials, citizens, the news media and others in order to inform the discussion on city road and bridge infrastructure, and the way it is currently financed. Second, the report proposes seven specific recommendations that the Legislature can consider to address the funding challenges identified in the report. Section 1: What does the city road and bridge system look like? ~ According to the most recent information from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), Minnesota has over 135,000 miles of roadway in the state. About 14 percent of that total, equal to more than 19,000 miles is owned and operated by Minnesota's 854 cities. )~ This report distinguishes roadway mileage in Minnesota cities on the basis of two variables: funding source and city size. The report separately discusses the resulting three categories of city roads: 1) locally funded in cities under 5,000 population (1,703 miles, nine percent of total city mileage), 2) locally funded in cities over 5,000 (14,072 miles, 76 percent), and 3) state funded in cities over 5,000 (2,818 miles, 15 percent). > Minnesota cities are responsible for a total of 1,247 bridges representing 6.4 percent of the total bridges in the state. Section 2: How is the system funded? Minnesota's cities finance their road and bridge infrastructure through a variety of local, state and federal resources. The emphasis in this report will be on local and state funding sources, since the intended audience of this report is state and local officials. The majority of funding for city streets, even among cities eligible to receive state aid, comes primarily from local resources: property taxes, special assessments, and bonding. The most significant state source of funding is the Municipal State Aid program which is available only to cities over 5,000 in population and only supports 20 percent of those cities' total mileage. MSA funding since 1988 (the last state gas tax increase) has failed to keep up with inflation. Cities derive only a very small proportion of their total funding from federal sources. Section 3: Why are existing funding sources insufficient? > This section details a number of the most important demographic trends that are important to transportation system planners and elected officials as they consider options to address the current and future demands on roads and bridges in the state's 854 cities. 1. Traffic volumes are increasing. 2. Growth in city population and new housing is steadily increasing, placing greater demands on city and residential street systems. 3. Truck movement is also increasing significantly. 4. City road and bridge infrastructure is aging.