3 Nationwide Amazon/Internet sales tax with money going State Highway System Low: Dept. of Governance / to states County State Aid Highway System Revenue estimates Enforcement Municipal State Aid System $394 million was Greater Minnesota Transit uncollected from Metropolitan Area Transit catalog Passenger Rail sales and remote Freight, Rail, Ports sellers in 2011. Airports Potential depends upon how this option is implemented and what share is directed from general fund to transportation Property tax 2 Restore transit spending to property tax; operations and Greater Minnesota Transit Moderate: amount Governance / capital spending Increase transit spending on the Metropolitan Area Transit generated will be Redistribution – property tax for metropolitan area transit capital dependent upon rate spending Currently the Metropolitan Council has the authority to levy a property tax within a designated taxing area to pay for the debt service on bonds used for transit capital purposes. This source provides the funding needed to preserve and maintain the base bus system i.e. – replace fleet and maintain facilities. This funding source should continue and needs to grow to allow for continued preservation of the transit system. The designated taxing area should also be expanded to include the entire 7 county area which benefits from the capital expenditures. In addition, current law requires the Legislature to authorize the total amount of bonds that can be sold. This authorization has become political and difficult to obtain and annually puts the system at risk of not having the basic funding to preserve the existing system.
3 Nationwide Amazon/Internet sales tax with money going to states State Highway System County State Aid Highway System Municipal State Aid System Greater Minnesota Transit Metropolitan Area Transit Passenger Rail Freight, Rail, Ports Airports Low: Dept. of Revenue estimates $394 million was uncollected from catalog sales and remote sellers in 2011. Potential depends upon how this option is implemented and what share is directed from general fund to transportation Governance / Enforcement Property tax 2 Restore transit spending to property tax; operations and capital spending – Increase transit spending on the property tax for metropolitan area transit capital spending Currently the Metropolitan Council has the authority to levy a property tax within a designated taxing area to pay for the debt service on bonds used for transit capital purposes. This source provides the funding needed to preserve and maintain the base bus system – i.e. replace fleet and maintain facilities. This funding source should continue and needs to grow to allow for continued preservation of the transit system. The designated taxing area should also be expanded to include the entire 7 county area which benefits from the capital expenditures. In addition, current law requires the Legislature to authorize the total amount of bonds that can be sold. This authorization has become political and difficult to obtain and annually puts the system at risk of not having the basic funding to preserve the existing system. Greater Minnesota Transit Metropolitan Area Transit Moderate: amount generated will be dependent upon rate Governance / Redistribution
FundingOptions.docx