The 2015 Minnesota Legislative Session was pretty good for counties.

 

That was the conclusion presented by Keith Carlson, Executive Director of the Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA) to the county board this week.

 

“There were no extraordinary cuts in Health & Human Services or any substantial cuts in property tax aid and credits,” he said.

 

Counties also shared $22 million in funding because of new mandates in child protection requirements.

 

There was a modest increase in corrections funding and no levy limits or reverse referendums, said Carlson.

 

“But it could have been better, given that we had substantially a $1.9 billion surplus,” he said.

 

The legislature didn’t pass a transportation bill and there was no property tax relief for farms or any other type of property.

 

Steve Novak of MICA said parties in both the House and Senate recognized there was a transportation funding crisis and agreed on a number of  $7-10 billion over a decade.

 

“Both introduced funding packages that  addressed the size and scope of the problem,” said Novak. “Unfortunately, they did it in as opposite a way as you could possibly do it. That’s what led to a no-decision”.

 

The Senate Democrats followed the traditional model of raising the gas tax, with the concept of a 12-16 cent increase over a succession of a few years. They also proposed increasing vehicle registration fees.

 

The Republican House package would have shifted existing money into transportation  by reallocation of sales tax money.

 

The two bills passed in the House and Senate separately, but that’s as far as they got.

 

Novak said it’s very unlikely there will be a major transportation bill in 2016 if the Republicans stick with their no gas tax increase concept.

 

“As much as a lot of people don’t like the gas tax, the legislature has yet to come up with a reliable counterpart that could replace it,” he said.

 

Carlson said because the legislature  couldn’t agree on a transportation funding package or a tax bill, it left $865 million on the table, and by the close of the last fiscal year ending June 30, there was another $555 million. 

 

“So we’re looking at over $1.4 billion in funds that the next legislature can spend,” he said.

 

But he said even with the surplus, there is the real likelihood of tough times ahead.

 

“This session was great in terms of the outcomes for counties, generally. But at some point the state, the nation, is going to experience another recession,” he said. “Much of the surplus that was enjoyed during this past session is attributable to the state’s individual income tax, and that’s a very volatile source.  

 

“At some point we will return to the environment that existed for much of the past decade. So you do need to prepare for that.”