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Metropolitan Agencies <br />Council operations and functions. <br />The Metropolitan Council should examine its scope of services to determine their benefit <br />and efficiency, and be open to alternative methods of delivery to assure that services are <br />provided at high levels of effectiveness for the region. <br />4-E Funding Regional Services <br />The Metropolitan Council should continue to fund its regional services and activities <br />through a combination of user fees, property taxes, and state and federal grants. The <br />Council should set user fees via an open process that includes public notices and public <br />hearings. User fees should be uniform by type of user and set at a level that supports <br />effective and efficient public services based on commonly accepted industry standards, <br />and allows for sufficient reserves to ensure long-term service and fee stability. Fee <br />proceeds should be used to fund regional services or programs for which they are <br />collected. <br />Metro Cities supports the use of property taxes and user fees to fund regional <br />projects so long as the benefit conferred on the region is proportional to the fee or <br />tax, and the fee or tax is comparable to the benefit cities receive in return. <br />4-F Regional Systems <br />Regional systems are statutorily defined as transportation, aviation, wastewater treatment <br />and recreational open space. The purpose of these regional systems and the Metropolitan <br />Council's authority over them is clearly outlined in state statute. In order to alter the <br />focus or expand the reach of any of these systems, the Metropolitan Council must seek a <br />statutory change. <br />The system plans prepared by the Metropolitan Council for the regional systems should <br />be specific in terms of the size, location and timing of regional investments in order to <br />allow for consideration in local comprehensive planning. System plans should clearly <br />state the criteria by which local plans will be judged for consistency and the criteria that <br />will be used to find that a local plan is more likely than not to have a substantial impact <br />on or contain a substantial departure from metropolitan system plans. <br />Additional regional systems should be established only if there is a compelling <br />metropolitan problem or concern that can best be addressed through the <br />designation. Common characteristics of the four existing regional systems include public <br />ownership of the system and its components and an established regional or state funding <br />source. These characteristics should be present in any new regional system that might be <br />established. Water supply does not fit these criteria. Any proposed additional regional <br />system must have an established regional or state funding source. <br />2016 Legislative Policies 39 <br />