Proposed tax hike would fund transit

02/28/2007

BY DENNIS LIEN
Pioneer Press


Twin Cities residents would get a chance to vote on a local sales-tax increase to pay for transportation projects under a funding package unveiled Tuesday at the Capitol.

Two lawmakers proposed a half-cent sales-tax increase dedicated to transportation and transit projects in the seven-county metro area — Ramsey, Dakota, Washington, Anoka, Hennepin, Wright and Scott counties. Metro area residents, however, would have to approve the increase in a referendum.

The proposal from Sen. Dan Larson, DFL-Bloomington, and Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, joins others aimed at addressing what is widely depicted as a worsening transportation situation in Minnesota. The centerpiece of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's transportation package is a $1.7 billion bonding proposal, while other lawmakers have proposed increasing the gasoline tax by as much as 10 cents a gallon.

Pawlenty opposes the gas-tax increase and said Tuesday he also thinks the sales-tax increase for transportation is a bad idea. "I don't think raising taxes is a good way to go,'' Pawlenty said.

That didn't stop a dozen Twin Cities mayors, including Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, from endorsing the sales-tax idea. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman was unavailable for comment Tuesday, and an aide said he didn't know Coleman's position.

Under the proposal, residents would decide whether to increase the state sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7 percent, generating more than $200 million extra a year. A joint powers board consisting of metro-area officials would decide how that money would be spent. Counties outside the Twin Cities also could choose to extend the sales-tax increase to themselves.

More than a dozen cities, including St. Paul and Minneapolis, already have local taxes that push their sales-tax rates beyond 6.5 percent.

"Minnesota needs to make a bigger and stronger investment in our transportation infrastructure,'' Larson said at a Capitol news conference.