State Capital: In an memo to Minnesota House and Senate Transportation Committee members , Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation questions the constitutionality of gas-tax diversions to motorized recreation. House and Senate Transportation Committees are charged with the difficult task of funding major repairs to Minnesota's roads including a new I-35W bridge.
Over the past eleven years MRR has documented the unwanted effects of gas-tax funded motorized recreation. Most recently, it has come to our attention that the ~3% - $16 million - in gas-tax revenue annually diverted to motorized recreation appears to violate the Minnesota Constitution which dedicates 100% of gas-tax revenue to trunk highways, state-aid highways and municipal streets:
Sec. 5. HIGHWAY USER TAX DISTRIBUTION FUND. There is hereby created a highway user tax distribution fund to be used solely for highway purposes as specified in this article. The fund consists of the proceeds of any taxes authorized by sections 9 and 10 of this article. The net proceeds of the taxes shall be apportioned: 62 percent to the trunk highway fund; 29 percent to the county state-aid highway fund; nine percent to the municipal state-aid street fund.
(Review gas-tax related text in the Minnesota Constiution: Highlighted Minnesota Constitution Restricts Gas-tax Revenue to Minnesota Roads and Bridges)
Minnesota Statute 296A.18 diverts ~3% of the state’s annually collect gas-tax to motorized recreation. While gas-tax revenue is diverted away from roads and bridges for snowmobiles and ATVs and other motorized recreation, these machines legally travel in the state’s right-of-ways as non-paying customers. (DNR rules open right-of-ways to snowmobiles, ATVs, dirt-bike motorcycles.) ATVs, dirt-bike motorcycles and four-wheel drive trucks are doing extensive damage to the state’s right-of-ways. In 2001 MN/DOT found that “ATVs are known to cause significant erosion problems...Erosion causes harm to state waters and erosion repair causes additional maintenance for the trunk highway authority”. Gas-tax funded snowmobile and ATV clubs are trespassing on private property with their bulldozers, damaging forests and wetlands and misusing gas-tax funds. Local units of government in Minnesota, including the state’s largest county, St. Louis County, are in violation of gas-tax-for-motorized-recreation grant-in-aid agreements.
Every year, while Minnesota’s under-funded roads and bridges crumble, 3% - $16 million – in gas-tax revenue is diverted to motorized recreation. 1% of the state’s gas-tax - $6 million - goes to local snowmobile clubs whether it snows or not. In the DNR’s own words “the actual effect of [ATV] trail designation is to transfer [gas-tax] funds from the state to local clubs”. Gas-tax funding of motorized recreation not only short changes the people and roads of our state, it is resulting in accumulating financial and other costs to the state’s taxpayers and environment.
Minnesotans want roads not ruts for their gas-tax dollar. Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation calls on the Senate and House Transportation Committees to amend Minnesota Statute 296A.18 by deleting gas-tax diversions to snowmobiles, ATVs, dirt-bike motorcycles, four-wheel drive trucks and motorboats. (MRR Case Studies for Reform of Gas-Tax Funding of Motorized Recreation.)
Action Needed: Contact Legislators with talking points
A. Open an e-mail using below talking points and addressed to Sen. Steve Murphy, Chair, Senate Transportation Committee; Rep. Bernard Lieder, Chair, House Transportation Finance Committee and Rep. Frank Hornstein Chair, Transportation and Transit Policy Subcomittee, Committee Members and Staff. Tell them:
1. I want roads not ruts. Gas-tax revenue should not be diverted to motorized recreation.
2. My reading of our Minnesota Constitution convinces me that diverting gas-tax to motorized recreation is unconstitutional.
3. Amend Minnesota Statute 296A.18 to delete annual diversions of gas-tax funds to motorized recreation.
Find your legislator
B. Copy and paste below e-mail addresses -House and Senate Transportation Committees - to the
"To" line of your e-mail. "CC" MRR - info@MnResponsibleRec.org. (phone and other contact info belo
sen.steve.murphy@senate.mn, sen.jim.carlson@senate.mn, sen.mike.jungbauer@senate.mn, sen.terri.bonoff@senate.mn, sen.dick.day@senate.mn, sen.scott.dibble@senate.mn, sen.john.doll@senate.mn, sen.michelle.fischbach@senate.mn, sen.joe.gimse@senate.mn, sen.amy.koch@senate.mn, sen.keith.langseth@senate.mn, sen.dan.larson@senate.mn, sen.mee.moua@senate.mn, sen.rick.olseen@senate.mn, sen.gen.olson@senate.mn, sen.julianne.ortman@senate.mn, sen.ann.rest@senate.mn, sen.kathy.saltzman@senate.mn, sen.katie.sieben@senate.mn, sen.rod.skoe@senate.mn, billie.ball@senate.mn, kelly.russell@senate.mn, steven.huser@senate.mn, bonnie.berezovsky@senate.mn, krista.boyd@senate.mn, michael.shmagin@senate.mn, william.seuffert@senate.mn, rep.bernie.lieder@house.mn, rep.frank.hornstein@house.mn, rep.ron.erhardt@house.mn, rep.doug.magnus@house.mn, rep.mike.beard@house.mn, rep.al.doty@house.mn, rep.alice.hausman@house.mn, rep.maryliz.holberg@house.mn, rep.melissa.hortman@house.mn, rep.jeremy.kalin@house.mn, rep.shelley.madore@house.mn, rep.sandra.masin@house.mn, rep.will.morgan@house.mn, rep.terry.morrow@house.mn, rep.michael.nelson@house.mn, rep.connie.ruth@house.mn, rep.dan.severson@house.mn, rep.linda.slocum@house.mn, rep.lyndon.carlson@house.mn, rep.loren.solberg@house.mn, abbey.Mahin@house.mn, ausie.Maher@house.mn
More Contact and Other Info on Transportation Committees and Members
Senate Transportation Committee
House Transportation Finance Divison Committee
House ransportation and Transit Policy Subcommittee Committee
C. Get more involved in protecting our state from the unwanted effects of gas-tax fueled motorized recreation. Contact MRR Executive Director Jeff Brown.
MRR Legislation Ends Gas-Tax Diversions to Motorized Recreation,
Implements User-Funded Standards
