The Anoka County Board of Commissioners today
voted to approve a joint powers agreement establishing the Counties
Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) and exercise a quarter (.0025) cent
sales tax to improve transit, effective July 1. The vote also
imposes an excise tax of $20 per motor vehicle sale by an auto
dealer.
The transportation bill passed by the Minnesota
Legislature in February gave the seven metro counties the authority
to establish the Metropolitan Transportation Area (MTA) and
implement the quarter (.0025) cent transit tax to pay for the
expansion and improvement of transit projects, including rail and
high speed bus service. Funds are not to be used to replace regular
Metro Transit service.
The funds will be used to pay Anoka County’s share
of operating costs for the Northstar commuter rail line from Big
Lake to Minneapolis, scheduled to open in late 2009. In addition,
funds could pay for the proposed Northstar stations in Fridley and
Ramsey, and a second station in Coon Rapids on Foley Boulevard; for
Anoka County’s share of the proposed Northern Lights Express, a
passenger rail line running through Anoka County to Duluth; and for
Anoka County’s share of planning, environmental analysis,
engineering, and property acquisition for future rail and high speed
bus lines.
Under the joint powers agreement establishing the
CTIB, the Metropolitan Council will receive five of the 100 total
votes, with the balance distributed to member counties based 50
percent on population and 50 percent on sales tax receipts. It will
take a super majority - 63 percent of the votes - and a majority of
the counties to fund any project. The MTA tax in the counties likely
to participate is expected to generate an estimated $100 million
annually.
“This is an extremely positive development for
Anoka County,” said Board Chair Dennis Berg, who also chairs the
county’s Public Works Committee. “Anoka County has been a leader in
developing commuter rail and other transit options. This measure
allows us to decrease dependence on property taxes to pay for
Northstar and future transit projects.” For example, Anoka County’s
share of the estimated $4 million annual operating costs for
Northstar commuter rail will be paid with funds from the transit tax
pool rather than from the county’s Regional Railroad Authority
property tax levy. The new legislation also caps at 10 percent the
amount a county can levy in property taxes for capital costs for a
transit project.
