Officials with the Met Council say they support an audit into the cost overruns and delays of the Southwest Light Rail project.
That audit may get a financial boost under a proposal that passed a House committee on Thursday in St. Paul.
"We can come together on this," said Rep. Frank Horenstein, who's the leading Democrat on the bill. "This is about transparency, this is about accountability, we need to get to the bottom of what's causing this."
The $200,000 increase would help evaluate Met Council decisions, and look into construction changes and why additional funding is needed.
"How did it happen that this huge project has gone so amok," asked Mary Pattock, a member of the Cedar-Isles-Dean Neighborhood Association.
"I would say that there's nobody watching the cash register," she said. "There's no way taxpayers and voters can have any influence on the Met Council because it is unelected."
The Met Council is a regional governmental agency and planning organization serving the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.
All 17 members of the Met Council are appointed by the governor.
The $2.7 billion project to connect downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie s already hundreds of millions of dollars over budget.
It's not scheduled to open until 2027.