Minnesota Transportation Funding (General)

[Bakken2016]

To be clear, this is the congressional budget and a lot of these projects were nixed in Trump's proposed budget. But the president's proposed budget is basically a wish list and the congressional budget is the real deal.

Yep I understand that, which is why I am excited.

[tmart]

That's how I interpreted it, but I wanted to make sure it was clear for others reading.

I'm very curious what will happen with the other programs that got expanded. I wonder if TIGER mysteriously tripling is a way of partially backdoor funding the Gateway rail in NYC that Trump has thrown a hissy fit over. And the extra community development money could, for instance, mean new affordable housing money available for Minneapolis.

[Bakken2016]

That's how I interpreted it, but I wanted to make sure it was clear for others reading.

I'm very curious what will happen with the other programs that got expanded. I wonder if TIGER mysteriously tripling is a way of partially backdoor funding the Gateway rail in NYC that Trump has thrown a hissy fit over. And the extra community development money could, for instance, mean new affordable housing money available for Minneapolis.

Like you said, I'm generally surprised they were able to pass such a bipartisan spending bill that is beneficial to our country.

[Vagueperson]

Did the senate change any of this?

[HiawathaGuy]

Did the senate change any of this?

If they changed anything, it would have to go back to committee. So I doubt it.

[Bakken2016]

Did the senate change any of this?

If they changed anything, it would have to go back to committee. So I doubt it.

They didn’t change anything, and Trump signed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tmart]

There's a dumb proposal for a constitutional amendment that auto taxes (gas, etc.) can only be used for roads.

[jebr]

There's a dumb proposal for a constitutional amendment that auto taxes (gas, etc.) can only be used for roads.

Note that the gas tax and the sales tax on the purchase of vehicles is already dedicated to roads via the Constitution. This would be for auto repair and auto parts, which sounds like a mess to manage from a tax perspective (there's a lot of places that sell auto parts, including a lot of non-auto-oriented neighborhood stores that may not have POS systems to track sales tax separately for auto parts. I'm assuming this would include things such as brake fluid, windshield wiper fluid, license plate holders, etc.)

The only way I'll even consider voting for it is if all taxes from the sales of bikes and bike parts is dedicated to bike infrastructure.

[Anondson]

... and maybe bike service, bike rentals ... ?

If certain sales taxes are going to be diverted away from general use, I’d be interested in supporting this if we changed road funding so that this was the only source of funds for motor vehicle infrastructure. We would have to raise rates until costs were covered. We would also need to have low income support, like we do in other taxes, where lower incomes get a tax benefit to offset some of the burdens of driving taxes. Having this would help offset the howling that inevitably comes up by wealthy drivers who use low income drivers as shields.

[MNdible]

NEVER NEVER NEVER vote for constitutional amendments that dictate budgeting. It's just a dumb cop-out for legislators.

[amiller92]

... and maybe bike service, bike rentals ... ?

If certain sales taxes are going to be diverted away from general use, I’d be interested in supporting this if we changed road funding so that this was the only source of funds for motor vehicle infrastructure. We would have to raise rates until costs were covered. We would also need to have low income support, like we do in other taxes, where lower incomes get a tax benefit to offset some of the burdens of driving taxes. Having this would help offset the howling that inevitably comes up by wealthy drivers who use low income drivers as shields.

Right. If you want to dedicate more funds to roads, you need to also commit to not taking other funds for them too.

Still would vote against it, though.

[Multimodal]

Oregon has a bike tax and it raises about $1 million/yr.

How much does Mpls alone spend on bike infrastructure annually?

[Bakken2016]

I will be voting against this if it ends up on the ballot. IT has mixed support, so I assume it won't even make it on the ballot.

[Anondson]

Highways are expensive after you build them because they come with an eternal obligation to maintain them and reconstruct them when they get very old.

MNDOT has updated their 10-year plan, mostly preservation of roads and bridges we built long ago. $10 billion for what was built with zero plan at the time to pay for maintenance.

https://twitter.com/BusinessMN/status/1 ... 1470538753

Plus a bit of Twin Cities congestion relief.

[Multimodal]

The age of expanding freeways should be over.

Convert them to grand boulevards/avenues with transit running down the middle and protected bike lanes on either side.

[mamundsen]

Does anyone have a link to the actual report vs this story? I don’t subscribe to FC so it’s locked. I’d be interested to know what the congestion relief plans are.

[Anondson]

Just to clear up a question I had in discussing financing transportation system in Minnesota that came up because of the constitutional amendment that limits the money from the gas tax is not spent on mass transit.

The question is: do the bus systems have to pay the gas tax for the gas their buses use?

[seanrichardryan]

They are exempt, along with a whole slew of other things like farms, barges, & trains.
https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/busines ... /FS116.pdf

[Anondson]

Awesome, thanks! I’ll try to file this away in my brain for future rando conversation topics I can impress people with.

[Bob Stinson's Ghost]

The most interesting carve out in the exempt list is the "passenger snowmobiles" one, specifying vehicles capable of carrying 4-12 passengers (presumably a Hagglunds or a Snowcat of some kind). I guess if your vehicle can carry 13 passengers or more, you're no longer exempt?