urbanMSP

Yah know, that's a pretty topical map for Map Monday...

Oh and here's something really interesting about this sales tax:

The taxes must terminate when revenues raised are sufficient to finance the project, except for taxes
for operating costs of a transit project or improvement, or for transit operations.

Here's a complete FAQ on the sales tax: http://www.mncounties.org/document_cent ... %20Tax.pdf

And one for the wheelage tax: http://www.mncounties.org/document_cent ... %20Tax.pdf

CTIB digs into details of possible breakup (locked)

All counties but Ramsey would see their fund balances go up, Ramsey would struggle to stay in the black the next couple years.
(Q: Is this because Green Line is still being paid for?)

Hennepin and Ramsey would have to go to 0.5% just to pay for their currently planned projects. The 0.25% increase would bring Hennepin an additional $135.5MM/year and Ramsey $41.2MM/year in 2018.

Going forward and assuming no 10% coming from the state, transit capital projects would be a 50/50 split between the county and feds.

In order to completely dissolve CTIB, all counties must agree. Hard to imagine they won't though, as Dakota is already on its way out, Anoka County has toyed with the idea. Hennepin and Ramsey need the additional sales tax, and this is the only way they'll get it, so they don't really have a choice.

I wonder if we'll see a new 3 county joint-powers agreement of Hennepin-Ramsey-Washington? Or just Hennepin-Ramsey? Or just Ramsey-Washington?

What happens with the funding for the Northstar Line operating expenses under such an agreement? Does that fall back onto mainly Anoka County or on the Met Council?

Here's a doc with 2010-2014 data: https://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites ... s-2014.pdf
Looks like it costs about $16MM/year to operate, with fares covering about $2.6MM of that amount, leaving between $13-14MM year to be subsidized by a combination of funds from Sherburne County, Anoka County (via CTIB), plus MVST (I don't know how they specifically allocate MVST funds per line). It's probably all fairly safe/stable, though the MVST funds are coming from the same pot as the operating $ for LRT & bus system, which really sucks because Northstar is just a massive drain on our overall transit budget that could be funding bus service.

The question for Anoka County is "how much of Anoka's current .25% tax revenue is needed to pay for their portion of Northstar?" Is there anything left over? After a CTIB breakup, who knows what the tax-averse Anoka County board will do. Pretty unlikely they would just eliminate the .25% tax, as that would cause a big property tax increase to pay for Northstar. Also pretty unlikely they'll go up to .5%, unless they are really eager to build some roads and have public support for the tax increase. Notably, Anoka County recently chose to ditch the wheelage tax , rather than suffer their residents an increase from $5 to $10 per vehicle per year. So yeah, they hate taxes.

Also, of CTIB's current ~$6MM allocation to Northstar, I assume that some sliver of that is coming from Hennepin's "pot", and not 100% Anoka. Question is how much would Hennepin be on the hook for annually, following a CTIB breakup. Hopefully not very much of that $6MM (EDIT: looks like Hennepin is on the hook for 18% of that, which seems high)

Is there a mechanism for a city in Anoka county to step in for a certain portion of costs for a project, or not really -- thinking of if you were to extend anything on Central Avenue into Columbia Heights, mainly.

http://www.mnrides.org/sites/default/fi ... tation.pdf

The slides here discuss how capital and operating costs will be shared.

If everything goes as planned, sales tax could increase by .25% as soon as July 1, 2017!

Looking through that presentation, looks like Hennepin County will have quite the war chest left over for transit improvements, even after funding SWLRT and BLRT.

Ramsey County, not so much. They'd be holding on by the skin of their teeth in getting Riverview, Rush, and Gateway built.

The suburban counties will basically have a few million each left over for freeway improvements.

Is there a mechanism for a city in Anoka county to step in for a certain portion of costs for a project, or not really -- thinking of if you were to extend anything on Central Avenue into Columbia Heights, mainly.

Alternately, is there a mechanism for Hennepin County to trade Rogers and Champlin and wherever else to Anoka County to get Columbia Heights?

So is all of this assuming the entire 0.5% would go to capital/operating costs for transitway projects?

If so, regular bus operations are going to suffer, what with the $89 million deficit Metro Transit has this year.

The CTIB disbanding is a fait accompli in terms of raising funds, though. It sounded like metro transit wanted to bargain with the legislature to get a 1/4 cent sales tax (perhaps going to the met council since the CTIB is dead) in exchange for a fare increase.

Would a 1/4 cent sales tax be enough to cover the gap if the state pulled it's funding as well? Idk how much of Metro Transit's funding comes from the legislature. The metro completely paying for metro transit in lieu of the state could be a chip in negotiations if it works out to a net positive. Met Council reform, too.

Ps: this would leave the counties with the money to spend as they please, so Hennepin could use it to fund Midtown, aBRT, ect.

The economic might of Hennepin County, even when compared to other wealthy metro counties, is truly a wonder to behold.

Couple recent articles:
https://www.minnpost.com/politics-polic ... ding-board
F&C (unlocked): http://finance-commerce.com/2017/01/tra ... o-breakup/

February 15 packet is online: http://www.mnrides.org/sites/default/fi ... packet.pdf

Looks like they moved forward with the breakup at yesterday's meeting (it was only on the agenda as a discussion item...so this is moving quickly). Meeting scheduled for March 3 to set the terms of dissolution: http://finance-commerce.com/2017/02/tra ... n-breakup/

CTIB and the counties have to notify the state Department of Revenue of the intent to dissolve by the end of March in order to make the existing quarter-cent tax go away and to replace it with a new tax that would take effect July 1.
For now, it looks like only Hennepin and Ramsey counties will bump their tax up to a half-cent, McLaughlin said. The other three counties represented on the board will keep it at a quarter-cent but will have more flexibility and control over the money, he said. The counties could use the tax money for roads, transit, transit operations and “Safe Routes to School” projects, Richardson said.

Something we need to keep our eye on is making sure Hennepin and Ramsey Counties dedicate 100% of their sales tax proceeds to transit & non-motorized (i.e. not roads). With McLaughlin at the helm, I think we have less to worry about in Hennepin, especially since they need to pay for Southwest and Bottineau, plus the operation costs when those lines open. Ramsey County probably isn't as certain politically-speaking, but they also have a lot on the docket (Riverview, Rush, part of Gold Line) and probably don't raise enough money to be dedicating any to road projects. Maybe isn't a huge threat in the near-term, but definitely something to keep an eye on and email your county commissioner. If you live in Dakota or Anoka County, it's pretty much guaranteed that some of the tax proceeds will shifted to road projects.

EDIT: Also, if you're planning any major furniture or appliance purchases, you might wanna take care of that before July 1

What's coming on July 1 that makes those purchases worth thinking about?

An additional .25% sales tax, in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties at least.

Is there any major concern that either the Northstar or Red Line would go away, since most of their funding is from Anoka and Dakota County, respectively? Or do they seem committed to at least funding their portion of those two services?

I have concern that they might *not* go away...