Minnesota mayors make legislative plea for state money to fix local streets and bridges

More than two dozen mayors and council members, from Minnesota cities large and small, called on legislators Monday to approve dedicated state funding to help them build and maintain local streets and bridges.

While they backed no specific proposal, they indicated support for a Senate bill that would raise about $57 million annually for local infrastructure using a $10 surcharge on license tab fees.

The mayors said that property taxes alone can't do the job, that too often state and county projects leave them with roads to fix without more funds, and that local roads are just as important to the state's economy as highways.

"Local streets are actually regional and statewide assets," Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said. "Action in the Legislature on this sort of transportation funding is a must-do for this session …

"The end of every trip is a local street."

The mayors spoke at the League of Minnesota Cities, which has collected resolutions from 184 Minnesota cities seeking state help in maintaining their streets.

About 17 percent of Minnesota cities have more than 5,000 residents and currently get Municipal State Aid (MSA) funding for local streets. But that funding is limited to 20 percent of a city's lane miles.

About 16 percent of the state's roads — over 22,500 miles — are owned by the state's 853 cities.

"Success to us looks like a dedicated, sustainable funding source that benefits all cities," said Anne Finn, the League's transportation lobbyist.

The House also has a bill providing about $25 million for local streets, but that funding would go only to smaller cities that don't get MSA funding. The League, and the mayors who spoke Monday, prefer that funding be distributed to large and small cities alike.

The issue has been brewing for a while. Last year, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Nicollet, Minn., Mayor Fred Froehlich formed the 84 Percent Coalition with about 20 other mayors to seek more state funding for local roads. The group's name refers to the fact that 84 percent of the state's local streets are financed locally.

Coleman said Monday that property taxes in St. Paul barely cover the city's public safety needs, let alone other services.

In Red Wing, which draws commerce and visitors, "our needs … are greater than our property taxpayers can bear on our own," Mayor Dan Bender said.

And those small cities that aren't eligible for MSA funding are left to fend for themselves despite mounting costs, said Mayor Hank Ludtke of Frazee, Minn. His city of 1,372 projects $1.5 million of road improvements needed in the next 10 years — even though Frazee's annual general fund amounts to $1.3 million.

"It boils down to dollars and cents," he said.