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FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Apri128, 2004 -6- Consideration of Resolutions 04-10 and 04-11 re arding turn back of Hamline Roselawn and Hoyt Avenues from Ramsey County (continued) Council member Lamb said that as we look at this and our spending account, we have to factor in what's the future of MSA. Recent history suggests to him that those accounts are in more jeopardy now than five years ago. Engineer Maurer said he believes the MSA distribution formula is statutory. He doesn't think the gas tax itself is in jeopardy but he does think that the Legislature could tinker with the division percentages between State, County and city. Council member Lamb said that the point he wants to make is that one of the anchors of this proposal is that the MSA account exists and we have to be very careful that we don't automatically assume that it always will or that it always will at the level that it currently is. Mr. Kenneth Haider, Director and County Engineer, Ramsey County Public Works, said that he wanted to make a few comments about the State aid system. The 62, 29, 9 split is a constitutional split that is sacred. The question is, how much money goes into the big pot of money that is separated out? There are some general fund revenues that the State puts in and that certainly is always under discussion. That is where the problem lies, the smaller portion of money that goes into the big system. The gas tax revenue is about $626,000,000. License fees, which he believes are also dedicated funds, are about $488,000,000. When you look at the general fund reimbursement for some of the tab fees and other things that are taken out of the system, you have about $100,000,000. The sacred money is in the $1,114,000,000 range. The unsacred money is in the $100,000,000 range. The turn back program was started in the late 1980's. The Legislature passed legislation that said Ramsey County should do a study and look at the jurisdiction of roadways as it relates to State, County and local. Ramsey County is now in the thirteenth year of a ten year program. There has been a lot of discussion and negotiation, but the turn backs are progressing. There are similar things happening with virtually every city in Ramsey County. Ramsey County is in the process of accepting a lot of State street roadways. Council member Kuettel asked how many cities have not accepted turn back proposals. Mr. Haider said that an agreement could not be worked out between the County, Lauderdale and Falcon Heights regarding Fulham Street, so the County is rebuilding it and it will remain on their system. Mayor Gehrz asked what criteria are used to determine which streets stay with the County system and which ones go. Mr. Haider said the County's responsibility is to create a system with roads that connect one to the other. County roads tend to be higher traffic, multi-lane. What doesn't fit into the County system is looked at as a turn back to the city. The State looks at its system for a lot of trunk highways. Ramsey County will be accepting roadways like Highway 96 and Rice Street. In response to a question from Council member Talbot, Mr. Haider said that Ramsey County's system has been increased by 15 miles and the traffic numbers have gone up substantially. C