5.5. SR 03-24-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Conclusion Few would dispute the notion that the condition of Minnesota's city streets and highways are an important aspect of the livability of the state. A quality local road and bridge network allows safe and easy access to schools, local businesses, recreational and cultural facilities, and family and friends. Just as importantly, sound local road networks enhance the economic development potential for businesses in the area, which results in higher employment, a stronger tax base, and other related benefits. Indeed, roads and bridges are typically the most valuable capital asset of a city, and like any asset, must be preserved. Cities have a financial obligation to both the past taxpayers who paid to develop the asset, and to future residents and users of the system who will rely on its use. The sponsors of this report recognize, however, that given Minnesota's current fiscal environment, city officials should not expect that the state will be in any position to address these funding challenges simply by providing significant new state resources. The state can, however, help cities to address the current and future funding shortfall by granting greater local revenue raising authority and by providing cities with additional tools to allow them to meet their specific needs. Providing cities with a more versatile "toolbox" to address their funding challenges will meet the principal objective of the cities (to protect the road and bridge capital asset) while addressing a fundamental fiscal policy goal of the state: to enhance the accountability of the system by aligning the responsibility for raising revenues with the level of government that is providing the service. The sponsors of this report are also hopeful that the findings identified herein will encourage state and local policy makers to examine and consider capital investment policies that would make the most efficient use of scarce resources as the demands on the road and bridge network increase in the future. With the new capital infrastructure reporting requirements known as GASB 34, there exists an opportunity for the state and local governments to work together to develop broad statewide pavement management guidelines that would maximize resources used to maintain local roads. These guidelines would be designed to ensure that proper preventative maintenance activities would take place, adding five to ten years to the life of existing pavement surfaces, resulting in significant cost savings over the life of the project. The City Engineers Association of Minnesota, the Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association, and the League of Minnesota Cities look forward to working with state and local policy makers this year and in the future to solve these critical challenges. 44