A proposed 1/8th cent sales tax in the seven-county metropolitan area included in Governor Tim Walz's $65.2 billion two-year state budget proposal announced this week looks to have a major impact on the regional transit system.
According to the proposal, the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Division has long operated in a structural deficit and thanks to COVID relief funding, the Council believes funding will be sufficient through the 2024-2025 biennium, pushing the fiscal cliff to to 2026-2027.
"I think the governor recognizes the need to sustain the transit system, to continue to build it out, the important role it plays, and that it needs a recurring, sustainable, you can count on it funding stream to meet the unfunded needs over the next generation," said Charlie Zelle, chair of the Metropolitan Council.
Zelle, who joined WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News on Thursday, said long term funding would have an impact now and down the road.
"We have a number of projects, the Southwest Light Rail green line extension project is the one most people are aware of. There are many other bus rapid transit projects in the east metro, the gold line, and eventually the blue line," Zelle said. "This funding is as much for the day to day operations. The system is really approaching a structural deficit. There was really never the funding in place to sustain the rails and the bus system that we have now and envision in the future."
The Southwest Light Rail green line extension has received heavy criticism due to lengthy delays and staggering budget issues. The project was once figured to be at least 10 years behind schedule and $1.5 billion over budget.
"The concern for the cost overrun is certainly something shared, but it comes for legitimate reasons, and frankly, shared by most major projects around North America at this time," Zelle said. "There is a delay and the delay has cost more money. This is due to unforeseen conditions. When you consider the $2 billion in investment that's already been made along that line, I think this line is going to play a really important economic role in the Twin Cities economy."
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Zelle told Sawkar the Southwest Light Rail construction remains three to four years behind.
"The construction budget we're experiencing is closer to $500 million, which is a lot of money. In the context of what other transit systems are being built, we're still below on a cost per mile basis compared to other cities."
A report about the project was released last year. Lawmakers have already called for an overhaul in the MET Council in the 2023 legislative session.