Local Road Funding History in Minnesota

Abstract

Between 1993 and 2003 per capita city and county spending for streets and roads in Minnesota increased by about 0.9 percent per year after adjusting for inflation. Local expenditures for the construction of new roads and the expansion of existing road increased by 17 percent during that period. But, local operating spending on roads, which includes expenditures for road maintenance, fell by 3 percent. Per capita county and city receipts from state highway aid declined 5 percent during that 10-year period on an inflation adjusted basis. Although the ratio of local government spending to personal income fell by 0.5 percentage points between 1993 and 2004, the proportion of Minnesota personal income going for local streets and roads fell by less than 0.1 percentage points.