MN Legislature: Measure to divert transportation funds from counties dropped

Lawmakers removed a measure that would have diverted $93 million in funding from counties to the Met Council from the transportation funding bill Monday during the Legislature’s special session.

Under 2023 legislation metro area counties have received 17% of funds derived from a three-fourth cent regional transportation sales tax, with the remaining 83% going to the Met Council. The proposal would have cut that sum by half and reallocated the money to the Met Council for Bus Rapid Transit expansion. That proposal was removed Monday morning.

Prior to the removal of the measure from the overall transportation budget bill, it drew criticism from a number of metro area county officials. The proposal had surprised county officials as it had not been discussed publicly or voted on during the regular session.

Dakota County would have lost an estimated $14 million in the next two years with the proposal, according to county officials. That money was to fund road preservation, local transit service and trail expansion in Dakota as well as other metro area counties.

State estimates showed that in addition to the $93 million cut over two years for the seven metro-area counties, an additional nearly $100 million would be diverted to the Met Council in the following two-year budget cycle.

The Met Council did not ask for or need the additional funds to complete BRT projects, county officials said. Met Council officials had no comment on the matter Monday.

Though Ramsey County officials recognize that legislators have dealt with difficult budget decisions, the proposed cut was “deeply harmful in several ways,” Ramsey County Board Chair Rafael Ortega wrote in a Wednesday letter to lawmakers from his county.

The proposed cut for the county would have amounted to $8 million to $9 million per year that is already designated for transit and other projects, Ortega wrote.

For Washington County the diverted funding would have amounted to $3.6 million in 2026 and more than $14 million over the next four years, county officials said.

Minnesota lawmakers returned to the Capitol Monday morning to complete the state’s next two-year budget and are expected to finish their work by Tuesday morning, though that could be delayed if lawmakers introduce amendments or take part in lengthy debate.