1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; apportioning five percent 
  1.3             of the highway user tax distribution fund; 
  1.4             apportioning funds for town road bridge and town road 
  1.5             accounts; removing trunk highway designation 
  1.6             requirement; establishing state trunk highway safety 
  1.7             program; changing composition of screening board; 
  1.8             requiring commissioner to consider average pavement 
  1.9             condition in allocating trunk highway funds; creating 
  1.10            county and municipal jurisdictional transfer accounts; 
  1.11            requiring transfer of surplus funds to highway user 
  1.12            tax distribution fund; changing the gasoline excise 
  1.13            tax rate; indexing the rate of taxation on gasoline; 
  1.14            directing commissioner of transportation to amend 
  1.15            Minnesota Rules, part 8820.0100, subpart 19; 
  1.16            appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, 
  1.17            sections 161.081, subdivision 1; 161.082, subdivisions 
  1.18            1, 2a, and by adding a subdivision; 161.083; 161.084; 
  1.19            162.07, subdivisions 1, 5, and 6; 174.03, by adding a 
  1.20            subdivision; and 296.02, subdivision 1b, and by adding 
  1.21            a subdivision; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.22            Minnesota Statutes, chapter 161. 
  1.23  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.24     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.081, 
  1.25  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.26     Subdivision 1.  [DISTRIBUTION OF FIVE PERCENT.] Pursuant to 
  1.27  article 14, section 5, of the constitution, five percent of the 
  1.28  net highway user tax distribution fund is set aside, and 
  1.29  apportioned as follows: 
  1.30     (1) 28 25 percent to the trunk highway fund; 
  1.31     (2) 64 66 percent to a separate account in the county 
  1.32  state-aid highway fund to be known as the county turnback 
  1.33  account, which account in the state treasury is hereby 
  1.34  created; and 
  2.1      (3) 8 9 percent to a separate account in the municipal 
  2.2   state-aid street fund to be known as the municipal turnback 
  2.3   account, which account in the state treasury is hereby created.  
  2.4      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.082, 
  2.5   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.6      Subdivision 1.  [RULES.] Except as hereinafter provided, 
  2.7   all money accruing to the county turnback account shall be 
  2.8   expended in accordance with rules of the commissioner of 
  2.9   transportation in paying a county for the restoration of former 
  2.10  trunk highways, or portions thereof, that have reverted to the 
  2.11  county in accordance with law, and have become a part of the 
  2.12  county state-aid highway system.  Rules made and promulgated by 
  2.13  the commissioner under this section must not require a trunk 
  2.14  highway or portion of it to be designated at another location 
  2.15  before it can receive funds from the county turnback account. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.082, 
  2.17  subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subd. 2a.  [TOWN BRIDGES AND CULVERTS; TOWN ROAD ACCOUNT.] 
  2.19  An amount equal to 25 percent of the county turnback account 
  2.20  must be expended on town road bridge structures that are ten 
  2.21  feet or more in length and on town road culverts that replace 
  2.22  existing town road bridges.  In addition, if the present bridge 
  2.23  structure is less than ten feet in length but a hydrological 
  2.24  survey indicates that the replacement bridge structure or 
  2.25  culvert must be ten feet or more in length, then the bridge or 
  2.26  culvert is eligible for replacement funds.  In addition, if a 
  2.27  culvert that replaces a deficient bridge is in a county 
  2.28  comprehensive water plan approved by the board of water and soil 
  2.29  resources and the department of natural resources, the costs of 
  2.30  the culvert and roadway grading other than surfacing are 
  2.31  eligible for replacement funds up to the cost of constructing a 
  2.32  replacement bridge.  The expenditures on bridge structures and 
  2.33  culverts may be on a matching basis, and if on a matching basis, 
  2.34  not more than 90 percent of the cost of a bridge structure or 
  2.35  culvert may be paid from the county turnback account.  When 
  2.36  bridge approach construction work exceeds $10,000 in costs, or 
  3.1   when the county engineer determines that the cost of the 
  3.2   replacement culverts alone will not exceed $20,000, the town 
  3.3   shall be eligible for financial assistance from the town bridge 
  3.4   account.  Financial assistance shall be requested by resolution 
  3.5   of the county board and shall be limited to: 
  3.6      (1) 100 percent of the cost of the bridge approach work 
  3.7   that is in excess of $10,000; or 
  3.8      (2) 100 percent of the cost of the replacement culverts 
  3.9   when the cost does not exceed $20,000 and the town board agrees 
  3.10  to be responsible for all the other costs, which may include 
  3.11  costs for structural removal, installation, and permitting.  The 
  3.12  replacement structure design and costs shall be approved and 
  3.13  certified by the county engineer, but need not be subsequently 
  3.14  approved by the department of transportation. 
  3.15     An amount equal to 47.5 45 percent of the county turnback 
  3.16  account must be set aside as a town road account and distributed 
  3.17  as provided in section 162.081. 
  3.18     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.082, is 
  3.19  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.20     Subd. 3.  [COUNTY JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER ACCOUNT.] An 
  3.21  amount equal to 15 percent of the county turnback account must 
  3.22  be set aside as a county jurisdictional transfer account in the 
  3.23  county state-aid highway fund, which is hereby created in the 
  3.24  state treasury.  Money in the county jurisdictional transfer 
  3.25  account is appropriated to the commissioner of transportation 
  3.26  and must be expended for the repair, restoration, 
  3.27  reconstruction, or improvement of former trunk highways, or 
  3.28  portions thereof, that have reverted to county jurisdiction. 
  3.29  Pursuant to agreement with the road authority having 
  3.30  jurisdiction, the commissioner may expend money from the account 
  3.31  for maintenance or reconditioning, for a specified period of 
  3.32  time, of former trunk highways, or portions thereof, that have 
  3.33  reverted to county jurisdiction. 
  3.34     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.083, is 
  3.35  amended to read: 
  3.36     161.083 [MUNICIPAL TURNBACK ACCOUNT, EXPENDITURE.] 
  4.1      Subdivision 1.  [TURNBACK.] Except as hereinafter provided, 
  4.2   all money accruing to the municipal turnback account shall be 
  4.3   expended in accordance with rules of the commissioner of 
  4.4   transportation in paying a municipality having a population of 
  4.5   5,000 or more for the reconstruction and improvement of former 
  4.6   trunk highways, or portions thereof, that have reverted to such 
  4.7   municipality in accordance with law, and have become a part of 
  4.8   the municipal state-aid street system. 
  4.9      Subd. 2.  [MUNICIPAL JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER ACCOUNT.] An 
  4.10  amount equal to 50 percent of the municipal turnback account 
  4.11  must be set aside as a municipal jurisdictional transfer 
  4.12  account, which is hereby created in the state treasury.  Money 
  4.13  in the municipal jurisdictional transfer account is appropriated 
  4.14  to the commissioner of transportation and must be expended for 
  4.15  the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or improvement of 
  4.16  former trunk highways, or portions thereof, that have reverted 
  4.17  to municipal jurisdiction.  Pursuant to agreement with the road 
  4.18  authority having jurisdiction, the commissioner may expend money 
  4.19  from the account for maintenance or reconditioning, for a 
  4.20  specified period of time, of former trunk highways, or portions 
  4.21  thereof, that have reverted to municipal jurisdiction. 
  4.22     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 161.084, is 
  4.23  amended to read: 
  4.24     161.084 [SURPLUS IN TURNBACK FUNDS.] 
  4.25     Subdivision 1.  [TRANSFER OF SURPLUS TURNBACK FUNDS.] On 
  4.26  determining at any time that there are surplus funds in either 
  4.27  the county or municipal turnback account that are not needed for 
  4.28  the purposes specified herein, the commissioner shall notify the 
  4.29  commissioner of finance in writing of such determination, and 
  4.30  such surplus funds, in the amount specified by the commissioner, 
  4.31  shall be transferred to the county state-aid highway fund, or 
  4.32  the municipal state-aid street fund, as the case may be, and 
  4.33  apportioned as provided by law.  
  4.34     Subd. 2.  [TRANSFER OF SURPLUS JURISDICTIONAL ACCOUNT 
  4.35  FUNDS.] Any amount in excess of $10,000,000 in the county 
  4.36  jurisdictional transfer account and any amount in excess of 
  5.1   $5,000,000 in the municipal jurisdictional transfer account must 
  5.2   be transferred to the highway user tax distribution fund and 
  5.3   apportioned as provided by law. 
  5.4      Sec. 7.  [161.54] [STATE TRUNK HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM.] 
  5.5      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner of 
  5.6   transportation shall establish the state trunk highway safety 
  5.7   program for the purpose of improving safety on the trunk highway 
  5.8   system.  The commissioner shall identify, on an annual basis, 
  5.9   the locations and nature of the most serious safety problems on 
  5.10  the trunk highway system.  
  5.11     Subd. 2.  [FUNDING; ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.] For the purpose 
  5.12  of resolving identified safety problems, the commissioner shall 
  5.13  utilize an amount from the trunk highway fund equal to ten 
  5.14  percent of surface transportation program funds received by the 
  5.15  state from the federal government.  State trunk highway safety 
  5.16  program funds must be allocated between locations within the 
  5.17  metropolitan area, as defined in section 473.121, and locations 
  5.18  outside the metropolitan area, according to the proportion of 
  5.19  highway fatalities that occurred in the previous calendar year 
  5.20  within and outside the metropolitan area. 
  5.21     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 162.07, 
  5.22  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  5.23     Subdivision 1.  [FORMULA.] After deducting for 
  5.24  administrative costs and for the disaster account and research 
  5.25  account and state park roads as heretofore provided, the 
  5.26  remainder of the total sum provided for in section 162.06, 
  5.27  subdivision 1, shall be identified as the apportionment sum and 
  5.28  shall be apportioned by the commissioner to the several counties 
  5.29  on the basis of the needs of the counties as determined in 
  5.30  accordance with the following formula: 
  5.31     (1) An amount equal to ten percent of the apportionment sum 
  5.32  shall be apportioned equally among the 87 counties.  
  5.33     (2) An amount equal to ten percent of the apportionment sum 
  5.34  shall be apportioned among the several counties so that each 
  5.35  county shall receive of such amount the percentage that its 
  5.36  motor vehicle registration for the calendar year preceding the 
  6.1   one last past, determined by residence of registrants, bears to 
  6.2   the total statewide motor vehicle registration.  
  6.3      (3) An amount equal to 30 percent of the apportionment sum 
  6.4   shall be apportioned among the several counties so that each 
  6.5   county shall receive of such amount the percentage that its 
  6.6   total lane miles of approved county state-aid highways bears to 
  6.7   the total lane miles of approved statewide county state-aid 
  6.8   highways.  
  6.9      (4) An amount equal to 50 percent of the apportionment sum 
  6.10  shall be apportioned among the several counties so that each 
  6.11  county shall receive of such amount the percentage that its 
  6.12  money needs bears to the sum of the money needs of all of the 
  6.13  individual counties; provided, that the percentage of such 
  6.14  amount that each county is to receive shall be adjusted so that 
  6.15  each county shall receive in 1958 a total apportionment at least 
  6.16  ten percent greater than its total 1956 apportionments from the 
  6.17  state road and bridge fund; and provided further that those 
  6.18  counties whose money needs are thus adjusted shall never receive 
  6.19  a percentage of the apportionment sum less than the percentage 
  6.20  that such county received in 1958.  
  6.21     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 162.07, 
  6.22  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  6.23     Subd. 5.  [SCREENING BOARD.] On or before September 1 of 
  6.24  each year the county engineer of each county shall forward to 
  6.25  the commissioner, on forms prepared by the commissioner, all 
  6.26  information relating to the mileage in lane miles of the county 
  6.27  state-aid highway system in the county, and the money needs of 
  6.28  the county that the commissioner deems necessary in order to 
  6.29  apportion the county state-aid highway fund in accordance with 
  6.30  the formula heretofore set forth.  Upon receipt of the 
  6.31  information the commissioner shall appoint a board consisting of 
  6.32  nine 12 county engineers.  The board shall be so selected that 
  6.33  each county engineer appointed shall be from a different state 
  6.34  highway construction district.  Five county engineers must be 
  6.35  appointed from the metropolitan highway construction district 
  6.36  and seven county engineers must be appointed from the 
  7.1   nonmetropolitan highway construction districts.  Each of the 
  7.2   seven county engineers appointed from nonmetropolitan districts 
  7.3   must be from a different state highway construction district.  
  7.4   No county engineer shall be appointed so as to serve 
  7.5   consecutively for more than two four years.  The board shall 
  7.6   investigate and review the information submitted by each county 
  7.7   and shall on or before the first day of November of each year 
  7.8   submit its findings and recommendations in writing as to each 
  7.9   county's lane mileage and money needs to the commissioner on a 
  7.10  form prepared by the commissioner.  Final determination of 
  7.11  the lane mileage of each system and the money needs of each 
  7.12  county shall be made by the commissioner.  
  7.13     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 162.07, 
  7.14  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  7.15     Subd. 6.  [ESTIMATES TO BE MADE IF INFORMATION NOT 
  7.16  PROVIDED.] In the event that any county shall fail to submit the 
  7.17  information provided for herein, the commissioner shall estimate 
  7.18  the lane mileage and the money needs of the county.  The 
  7.19  estimate shall be used in determining the apportionment 
  7.20  formula.  The commissioner may withhold payment of the amount 
  7.21  apportioned to the county until the information is submitted.  
  7.22     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 174.03, is 
  7.23  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  7.24     Subd. 6a.  [PAVEMENT QUALITY.] The commissioner shall, when 
  7.25  allocating trunk highway funds to the state highway construction 
  7.26  districts, consider the average condition of the pavement 
  7.27  surface within each district. 
  7.28     Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 296.02, 
  7.29  subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  7.30     Subd. 1b.  [RATES IMPOSED.] The gasoline excise tax is 
  7.31  imposed at the following rate:  
  7.32     For the period on and after May July 1, 1988 1995 to March 
  7.33  31, 1996, gasoline is taxed at the rate of 20 25 cents per 
  7.34  gallon.  After March 31, 1996, gasoline is taxed at a rate 
  7.35  determined annually under subdivision 1c. 
  7.36     Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 296.02, is 
  8.1   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  8.2      Subd. 1c.  [ANNUAL GASOLINE TAX RATE ADJUSTMENT.] (a) 
  8.3   Beginning in 1996 and annually thereafter, before April 1 of 
  8.4   each year the commissioner of revenue shall adjust the rate of 
  8.5   the gasoline excise tax.  The new rate per gallon must be 
  8.6   calculated by multiplying the rate in effect at the time of the 
  8.7   calculation by an amount obtained under paragraph (b).  The new 
  8.8   rate must be rounded to the nearest 0.1 cent and is effective on 
  8.9   April 1 of each year. 
  8.10     (b) Divide the annual average United States Consumer Price 
  8.11  Index for all urban consumers, United States city average, as 
  8.12  determined by the United States Department of Labor for the 
  8.13  previous year by that annual average for the year before the 
  8.14  previous year. 
  8.15     Sec. 14.  [RULE CHANGE.] 
  8.16     The commissioner shall amend Minnesota Rules, part 
  8.17  8820.0100, subpart 19, so the definition of a trunk highway does 
  8.18  not require that a trunk highway or portion of it be designated 
  8.19  at another location before it can revert to a county or 
  8.20  municipality. 
  8.21     Sec. 15.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  8.22     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  8.23  commissioner of transportation for the purposes in Minnesota 
  8.24  Statutes, section 174.32. 
  8.25     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  8.26  metropolitan council for the purposes in Minnesota Statutes, 
  8.27  section 174.32. 
  8.28     Sec. 16.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  8.29     Sections 1 to 3, 8 to 10, and 14 are effective the day 
  8.30  following final enactment.  Section 7 is effective only when the 
  8.31  gasoline excise tax, under Minnesota Statutes, section 296.02, 
  8.32  subdivision 1b, is imposed at a rate in excess of 20 cents per 
  8.33  gallon.  Section 12 is effective July 1, 1995, and applies to 
  8.34  gasoline and special fuel in distributor storage on that date.  
  8.35  Section 15 is effective July 1, 1995.