1997 Minnesota Statutes

     473.388 Replacement service program. 

    Subdivision 1.    Program established.  A replacement 
 service program is established to continue the metropolitan 
 transit service demonstration program established in Minnesota 
 Statutes 1982, section 174.265, as provided in this section.  

    Subd. 2.    Replacement service; eligibility.  The 
 council may provide assistance under the program to a statutory 
 or home rule charter city or town or combination thereof, that:  

    (a) is located in the metropolitan transit taxing district; 

    (b) is not served by the council bus service or is served 
 only with council bus routes which begin or end within the 
 applying city or town or combination thereof; and 

    (c) has fewer than four scheduled runs of council bus 
 service during off-peak hours defined in section 473.408, 
 subdivision 1.  

    Eligible cities or towns or combinations thereof may apply 
 on behalf of a transit operator with whom they propose to 
 contract for service.  

    The council may not provide assistance under this section 
 to a statutory or home rule charter city or town unless the city 
 or town, 

    (i) was receiving assistance under Minnesota Statutes 1982, 
 section 174.265 by July 1, 1984, 

    (ii) had submitted an application for assistance under that 
 section by July 1, 1984, or 

    (iii) had submitted a letter of intent to apply for 
 assistance under that section by July 1, 1984, and submits an 
 application for assistance under this section by July 1, 1988.  
 A statutory or home rule charter city or town has an additional 
 12-month extension if it notified the former regional transit 
 board before July 1, 1988, that the city or town is in the 
 process of completing a transportation evaluation study that 
 includes an assessment of the local transit needs of the city or 
 town. 

    Subd. 3.    Application for assistance.  An application 
 for assistance under this section must:  

    (a) describe the existing service provided to the applicant 
 by the council, including the estimated number of passengers 
 carried and the routes, schedules, and fares; 

    (b) describe the transit service proposed for funding under 
 the demonstration program, including the anticipated number of 
 passengers and the routes, schedules, and fares; and 

    (c) indicate the total amount of available local transit 
 funds, the portion of the available local transit funds proposed 
 to be used to subsidize replacement services, and the amount of 
 assistance requested for the replacement services.  

    Subd. 4.    Financial assistance.  The council may grant 
 the requested financial assistance if it determines that the 
 proposed service is intended to replace the service to the 
 applying city or town or combination thereof by the council and 
 that the proposed service will meet the needs of the applicant 
 at least as efficiently and effectively as the existing service. 

    The amount of assistance which the council may provide 
 under this section may not exceed the sum of:  

    (a) the portion of the available local transit funds which 
 the applicant proposes to use to subsidize the proposed service; 
 and 

    (b) an amount of financial assistance bearing an identical 
 proportional relationship to the amount under clause (a) as the 
 total amount of funds used by the council to fund its transit 
 operations bears to the total amount of taxes collected by the 
 council under section 473.446.  The council shall pay the amount 
 to be provided to the recipient from the funds the council would 
 otherwise use to fund its transit operations.  

    For purposes of this section, "available local transit 
 funds" means 90 percent of the tax revenues which would accrue 
 to the council from the tax it levies under section 473.446 in 
 the applicant city or town or combination thereof.  

    For purposes of this section, "tax revenues" in the city or 
 town means the sum of the following: 

    (1) the nondebt spread levy, which is the total of the 
 taxes extended by application of the local tax rate for nondebt 
 purposes on the taxable net tax capacity; 

    (2) the portion of the fiscal disparity distribution levy 
 under section 473F.08, subdivision 3, attributable to nondebt 
 purposes; and 

    (3) the portion of the homestead credit and agricultural 
 credit aid and disparity reduction aid amounts under section 
 273.1398, subdivisions 2 and 3, attributable to nondebt purposes.

    Tax revenues do not include the state feathering 
 reimbursement under section 473.446. 

    Subd. 5.    Other assistance.  A city or town receiving 
 assistance or levying a transit tax under this section may also 
 receive assistance from the council under section 473.384.  In 
 applying for assistance under that section an applicant must 
 describe the portion of its available local transit funds or 
 local transit taxes which are not obligated to subsidize its 
 replacement transit service and which the applicant proposes to 
 use to subsidize additional service.  An applicant which has 
 exhausted its available local transit funds or local transit 
 taxes may use any other local subsidy funds to complete the 
 required local share.  

    Subd. 6. Repealed, 1994 c 628 art 3 s 209 

    Subd. 7.    Local levy option.  (a) A statutory or home 
 rule charter city or town that is eligible for assistance under 
 this section, in lieu of receiving the assistance, may levy a 
 tax for payment of the operating and capital expenditures for 
 transit and other related activities and to provide for payment 
 of obligations issued by the municipality for such purposes, 
 provided that the tax must be sufficient to maintain the level 
 of transit service provided in the municipality in the previous 
 year. 

    (b) The transit tax revenues derived by the municipality 
 may not exceed: 

    (1) for the first transit levy year and any subsequent 
 transit levy year immediately following a year in which the 
 municipality declines to make the levy, the maximum available 
 local transit funds for the municipality for taxes payable in 
 the current year under section 473.446, calculated as if the 
 percentage of transit tax revenues for the municipality were 88 
 percent instead of 90 percent, and multiplied by the 
 municipality's market value adjustment ratio; and 

    (2) for taxes levied in any year that immediately follows a 
 year in which the municipality elects to levy under this 
 subdivision, the maximum transit tax that the municipality may 
 have levied in the previous year under this subdivision, 
 multiplied by the municipality's market value adjustment ratio. 

    The commissioner of revenue shall certify the 
 municipality's levy limitation under this subdivision to the 
 municipality by June 1 of the levy year.  The tax must be 
 accumulated and kept in a separate fund to be known as the 
 "replacement transit fund." 

    (c) To enable the municipality to receive revenues 
 described in clauses (2) and (3) of the definition of "tax 
 revenues" in subdivision 4, that would otherwise be lost if the 
 municipality's transit tax levy was not treated as a successor 
 levy to that made by the council under section 473.446: 

    (1) in the first transit levy year and any subsequent 
 transit levy year immediately following a year in which the 
 municipality declined to make the levy, 88 percent of the 
 council's nondebt spread levy for the current taxes payable year 
 shall be treated as levied by the municipality, and not the 
 council, for purposes of section 473F.08, subdivision 3, for the 
 purpose of determining its local tax rate for the preceding 
 year; and 

    (2) 88 percent of the revenues described in clause (3) of 
 the definition of "tax revenues" in subdivision 4, payable in 
 the first transit levy year, or payable in any subsequent 
 transit levy year following a year in which a municipality 
 declined to make the levy, shall be permanently transferred from 
 the council to the municipality.  If a municipality levies a tax 
 under this subdivision in one year, but declines to levy in a 
 subsequent year, the aid transferred under this clause shall be 
 transferred back to the council. 

    (d) Any transit taxes levied under this subdivision are not 
 subject to, or counted towards, any limit hereafter imposed by 
 law on the levy of taxes upon taxable property within any 
 municipality unless the law specifically includes the transit 
 tax. 

    (e) This subdivision is consistent with the transit 
 redesign plan.  Eligible municipalities opting to levy the 
 transit tax under this subdivision shall continue to meet the 
 regional performance standards established by the council. 

    (f) Within the designated Americans with Disabilities Act 
 area, metro mobility remains the obligation of the state. 

    (g) For purposes of this subdivision, "transit levy year" 
 is any year in which the municipality elects to levy under this 
 subdivision. 

    (h) A municipality may not levy taxes under this 
 subdivision in any year unless it notifies the council and the 
 commissioner of revenue of its intent to levy before July 1 of 
 the levy year.  The notification must include the amount of the 
 municipality's proposed transit tax for the current levy year.  
 After June 30 in the levy year, a municipality's decision to 
 levy or not levy taxes under this subdivision is irrevocable for 
 that levy year. 

    Subd. 8.    Service incentive.  A replacement transit 
 service shall receive an additional two percent of available 
 local transit funds, as defined in subdivision 4, if the service 
 increased its ridership for trips that originate outside of the 
 replacement transit service's member communities and serve the 
 employment centers in those communities by at least five percent 
 from the previous year, provided the service operates within 
 regional performance standards.  A replacement transit service 
 that is receiving the maximum amount of available local transit 
 funds may receive up to two percent over the maximum amount set 
 in subdivision 4 if it increases its ridership as provided in 
 this subdivision.  The additional funding received under this 
 subdivision may be reserved by the replacement transit service 
 for future use. 

    HIST: 1984 c 654 art 3 s 123; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 278 s 16; 
 1992 c 511 art 2 s 36; 1994 c 628 art 3 s 87-90; 1995 c 236 s 
 13; 1996 c 455 art 5 s 3,4; 1996 c 464 art 2 s 4; 1997 c 31 art 
 3 s 17