1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to transportation; modifying provision governing financial assistance 
1.3 	from the town bridge account;amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 
1.4 	161.082, subdivision 2a.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 161.082, subdivision 2a, is amended to 
1.7 	read:
1.8 		Subd. 2a.Town bridges and culverts; town road account. (a) Money in the 
1.9 	town bridge account must be expended on town road bridge structures that are ten feet 
1.10 	or more in length and on town road culverts that replace existing town road bridges. In 
1.11 	addition, if the present bridge structure is less than ten feet in length but a hydrological 
1.12 	survey indicates that the replacement bridge structure or culvert must be ten feet or more 
1.13 	in length, then the bridge or culvert is eligible for replacement funds.
1.14 	(b) In addition, if a culvert that replaces a deficient bridge is in a county 
1.15 	comprehensive water plan approved by the Board of Water and Soil Resources and the 
1.16 	Department of Natural Resources, the costs of the culvert and roadway grading other than 
1.17 	surfacing are eligible for replacement funds up to the cost of constructing a replacement 
1.18 	bridge.
1.19 	(c) The expenditures on a bridge structure or culvert may be paid from the county 
1.20 	turnback account and may be for 100 percent of the cost of the replacement structure or 
1.21 	culvert or for 100 percent of the cost of rehabilitating the existing structure.
1.22 	(d) The town bridge account may be used to pay the costs to abandon an existing 
1.23 	bridge that is deficient and in need of replacement, but where no replacement will be 
1.24 	made. It may also be used to pay the costs to construct a road or street to facilitate the 
2.1 	abandonment of an existing bridge determined by the commissioner to be deficient, if the 
2.2 	commissioner determines that construction of the road or street is more cost efficient 
2.3 	than replacing the existing bridge.
2.4 	(e) When bridge approach construction work exceeds $10,000 in costs, or when 
2.5 	the county engineer determines that the cost of the replacement culverts alone will not 
2.6 	exceed $20,000, or engineering costs exceed $10,000, the town shall be eligible for 
2.7 	financial assistance from the town bridge account. Financial assistance shall be requested 
2.8 	by resolution of the county board and shall be limited to:
2.9 	(1) 100 percent of the cost of the bridge approach work that is in excess of $10,000;
2.10 	(2) 100 percent of the cost of the replacement culverts when the cost does not 
2.11 	exceed $20,000 and the town board agrees to be responsible for all the other costs, which 
2.12 	may include costs for structural removal, installation, and permitting. The replacement 
2.13 	structure design and costs shall be approved and certified by the county engineer, but need 
2.14 	not be subsequently approved by the Department of Transportation; or
2.15 	(3) 100 percent of all related engineering costs that exceed $10,000, or in the case of 
2.16 	towns with a net tax capacity of less than ~~$200,000~~ $......., 100 percent of the engineering 
2.17 	costs. Beginning in fiscal year 2007, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the net tax capacity 
2.18 	limit must be annually adjusted for the increase in inflation, from the most recent previous 
2.19 	year available, using the annual implicit price deflator for state and local expenditures as 
2.20 	published by the United States Department of Commerce.
2.21 	(f) Money in the town road account must be distributed as provided in section  
2.22 	162.081. 

2.23 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2006.