1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to metropolitan government; allowing 
  1.3             additional communities in the metropolitan area to 
  1.4             operate their own transit programs; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1994, section 473.388. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 473.388, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      473.388 [REPLACEMENT SERVICE PROGRAM.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.] A replacement 
  1.11  service program is established ~~to continue the metropolitan~~ 
  1.12  ~~transit service demonstration program established in Minnesota~~ 
  1.13  ~~Statutes 1982, section 174.265,~~ as provided in this section.  
  1.14     Subd. 2.  [REPLACEMENT SERVICE; ELIGIBILITY.] (a) The 
  1.15  council ~~may~~ shall provide assistance from available local 
  1.16  transit funds under the program to a statutory or home rule 
  1.17  charter city or town or combination thereof, that:  
  1.18     ~~(a)~~ (1) is located in the metropolitan transit taxing 
  1.19  district; 
  1.20     ~~(b)~~ (2) is not served by the council bus service or is 
  1.21  served only with council bus routes which begin or end within 
  1.22  the applying city or town or combination thereof; and 
  1.23     ~~(c)~~ (3) has fewer than four scheduled runs of council bus 
  1.24  service during off-peak hours defined in section 473.408, 
  1.25  subdivision 1.  
  2.1      (b) Eligible cities or towns or combinations thereof may 
  2.2   apply on behalf of a transit operator with whom they propose to 
  2.3   contract for service. 
  2.4      (c) The council may not provide assistance under this 
  2.5   section to a statutory or home rule charter city or town unless 
  2.6   the city or town~~,~~: 
  2.7      ~~(i)~~ (1) was receiving assistance ~~under Minnesota Statutes~~ 
  2.8   ~~1982, section 174.265 by July 1, 1984, (ii) had submitted~~ on the 
  2.9   effective date of this section; or 
  2.10     (2) after the effective date of this section, submits an 
  2.11  application for assistance ~~under that section by July 1, 1984,~~ 
  2.12  ~~or~~ 
  2.13     ~~(iii) had submitted a letter of intent to apply for~~ 
  2.14  ~~assistance under that section by July 1, 1984, and submits an~~ 
  2.15  ~~application for assistance under this section by July 1, 1988.~~  
  2.16  ~~A statutory or home rule charter city or town has an additional~~ 
  2.17  ~~12-month extension if it notified the former regional transit~~ 
  2.18  ~~board before July 1, 1988, that the city or town is in the~~ 
  2.19  ~~process of completing~~ and a transportation evaluation study that 
  2.20  includes an assessment of the local transit needs of the city or 
  2.21  town. 
  2.22     Subd. 3.  [APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE.] An application for 
  2.23  assistance under this section must:  
  2.24     ~~(a)~~ (1) describe ~~the~~ any existing transit service 
  2.25  provided to the applicant by the council, including the 
  2.26  estimated number of passengers carried and the routes, 
  2.27  schedules, and fares, if any; 
  2.28     ~~(b)~~ (2) describe the transit service proposed for funding 
  2.29  under ~~the demonstration~~ this program, including the anticipated 
  2.30  number of passengers and the routes, schedules, and fares; and 
  2.31     ~~(c)~~ (3) indicate the total amount of available local 
  2.32  transit funds, the portion of the available local transit funds 
  2.33  proposed to be used to subsidize replacement transit services, 
  2.34  and the amount of assistance requested for the replacement 
  2.35  services.  
  2.36     Subd. 4.  [FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.] (a) The council may grant 
  3.1   the requested financial assistance if it determines that the 
  3.2   proposed service is intended to replace the service, if any, to 
  3.3   the applying city or town or combination thereof by the council 
  3.4   and that the proposed service will meet the needs of the 
  3.5   applicant at least as efficiently and effectively as ~~the~~ 
  3.6   existing service. 
  3.7      (b) The amount of assistance which the council may provide 
  3.8   under this section may not exceed the sum of:  
  3.9      ~~(a)~~ (1) the portion of the available local transit funds 
  3.10  which the applicant proposes to use to subsidize the proposed 
  3.11  service; and 
  3.12     ~~(b)~~ (2) an amount of financial assistance bearing an 
  3.13  identical proportional relationship to the amount under 
  3.14  clause ~~(a)~~ (1) as the total amount of financial assistance to 
  3.15  the council bears to the total amount of taxes collected by the 
  3.16  council under section 473.446.  The council shall pay the amount 
  3.17  to be provided to the recipient from the assistance the council 
  3.18  would otherwise ~~pay to the council~~ allocate to its 
  3.19  transportation division, office of transit operations.  
  3.20     (c) For purposes of this section, "available local transit 
  3.21  funds" means 90 percent of the tax revenues which would accrue 
  3.22  to the council from the tax it levies under section 473.446 in 
  3.23  the applicant city or town or combination thereof.  
  3.24     (d) For purposes of this section, "tax revenues" in the 
  3.25  city or town means the sum of the following: 
  3.26     (1) the nondebt spread levy, which is the total of the 
  3.27  taxes extended by application of the local tax rate for nondebt 
  3.28  purposes on the taxable net tax capacity; 
  3.29     (2) the portion of the fiscal disparity distribution levy 
  3.30  under section 473F.08, subdivision 3, attributable to nondebt 
  3.31  purposes; and 
  3.32     (3) the portion of the homestead credit and agricultural 
  3.33  credit aid and disparity reduction aid amounts under section 
  3.34  273.1398, subdivisions 2 and 3, attributable to nondebt purposes.
  3.35     Tax revenues do not include the state feathering 
  3.36  reimbursement under section 473.446. 
  4.1      Subd. 5.  [OTHER ASSISTANCE.] A city or town receiving 
  4.2   assistance under this section may also receive assistance from 
  4.3   the council under section 473.384.  In applying for assistance 
  4.4   under that section, an applicant must describe the portion of 
  4.5   the available local transit funds which are not obligated to 
  4.6   subsidize replacement service and which the applicant proposes 
  4.7   to use to subsidize additional service.  An applicant which has 
  4.8   exhausted its available local transit funds may use any other 
  4.9   local subsidy funds to complete the required local share.