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473.13 BUDGET, FINANCIAL AID.
    Subdivision 1. Budget. (a) On or before December 20 of each year the council, after the
public hearing required in section 275.065, shall adopt a final budget covering its anticipated
receipts and disbursements for the ensuing year and shall decide upon the total amount necessary
to be raised from ad valorem tax levies to meet its budget. The budget shall state in detail the
expenditures for each program to be undertaken, including the expenses for salaries, consultant
services, overhead, travel, printing, and other items. The budget shall state in detail the capital
expenditures of the council for the budget year, based on a five-year capital program adopted by
the council and transmitted to the legislature. After adoption of the budget and no later than five
working days after December 20, the council shall certify to the auditor of each metropolitan
county the share of the tax to be levied within that county, which must be an amount bearing the
same proportion to the total levy agreed on by the council as the net tax capacity of the county
bears to the net tax capacity of the metropolitan area. The maximum amount of any levy made for
the purpose of this chapter may not exceed the limits set by the statute authorizing the levy.
(b) Each even-numbered year the council shall prepare for its transit programs a financial
plan for the succeeding three calendar years, in half-year segments. The financial plan must
contain schedules of user charges and any changes in user charges planned or anticipated by the
council during the period of the plan. The financial plan must contain a proposed request for state
financial assistance for the succeeding biennium.
(c) In addition, the budget must show for each year:
(1) the estimated operating revenues from all sources including funds on hand at the
beginning of the year, and estimated expenditures for costs of operation, administration,
maintenance, and debt service;
(2) capital improvement funds estimated to be on hand at the beginning of the year
and estimated to be received during the year from all sources and estimated cost of capital
improvements to be paid out or expended during the year, all in such detail and form as the
council may prescribe; and
(3) the estimated source and use of pass-through funds.
    Subd. 1a. Program evaluation. The budget procedure of the council must include a
substantive assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of each significant program of the
council, with, to the extent possible, quantitative information on the status, progress, costs,
benefits, and effects of each program. The council shall transmit the evaluation to the legislature
annually.
    Subd. 1b. Light rail transit operating costs. If the council submits to the legislature or
governor a budget that includes proposed operating assistance for one or more light rail transit
lines operated by the council, the budget must show the proposed operating assistance for each
light rail transit line separately from all other transit operating assistance in that budget.
    Subd. 1c. Report on consultants. The annual budget must list by contract or project,
expenditures for consultants and professional, technical, and other similar services for the
preceding fiscal year and those proposed or anticipated in the next year. The council shall
consult with the state auditor and the legislative auditor on how to coherently and effectively
communicate in the budget information on professional services contracts, including a detailed
description of the:
(1) methods the council used to obtain consultant services;
(2) criteria used by the council to award the contract;
(3) number of consultants who sought the contract;
(4) total cost of the contract;
(5) duration of the contract; and
(6) source of the funds used to pay for the contract.
    Subd. 2. Levies. The auditor of each metropolitan county shall add the amount of any levy
made by the council within the limits imposed by this chapter to other tax levies imposed within
the county for collection by the county treasurer with other taxes. When collected the county
treasurer shall make settlement of the taxes with the council in the same manner as other taxes are
distributed to political subdivisions. The levy authorized by this section is in addition to any other
taxes levied within the county authorized by law.
    Subd. 3. Financial aid. The council may accept financial aid from governmental units within
the metropolitan area, from the state or federal government, and from private donors, if the
conditions under which it is offered are not incompatible with the provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 4. Accounts; audits. The council shall keep an accurate account of its receipts and
disbursements. Disbursements of council money must be made by check or by electronic funds
transfer, signed or authorized by the chair or vice-chair of the council, and countersigned or
authorized by its regional administrator or designee after whatever auditing and approval of the
expenditure may be required by the council. The state auditor shall audit the books and accounts
of the council once each year, or as often as funds and personnel of the state auditor permit. The
council shall pay to the state the total cost and expenses of the examination, including the salaries
paid to the auditors while actually engaged in making the examination. The general fund must be
credited with all collections made for any examination.
    Subd. 5. Investing postretirement reserves. The State Board of Investment, when requested
by the council, notwithstanding chapter 118A, may invest any funds or assets that the council
may hold as a reserve for the payment of potential and estimated postretirement benefits
to employees of the council. The reserve of funds or assets by the council for potential and
estimated postretirement benefits, and its investment by the State Board of Investment under this
subdivision, does not constitute an irrevocable dedication of the funds or assets for such use.
History: 1986 c 460 s 7; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 2 s 29,30; 1988 c 675 s 1,2; 1988 c 719 art 5 s 84;
1989 c 329 art 13 s 20; 1989 c 335 art 4 s 90; 1993 c 375 art 7 s 15; 1994 c 416 art 1 s 51; 1994 c
628 art 3 s 40,41; 1995 c 236 s 4,5; 1997 c 7 art 1 s 149; 1Sp2001 c 8 art 2 s 69; 1Sp2001 c 10
art 2 s 79; 1Sp2003 c 16 s 3; 2004 c 140 s 1; 2004 c 175 s 1

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes