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Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) published a report in January this year to show sources for highway funding in the state and where that money is spent in fiscal year 2013.

The $1,824,600,000 highway users fund comes to the state as $874,963,000 from fuel taxes, $593,034,000 from vehicle license fees, $353,233,000 from vehicle sales taxes and $3,370,000 from interest on investing MNDOT money.

Of the total, $34,909,000 is spent on collection costs and refunds to the Departments of Natural Resources (DNR), Public Safety and Revenue and others, $89,485,000 goes to a 5 percent distribution fund and $1,700,206,000 goes to a 95 percent regular distribution fund.

The 5 percent fund is then divided into 16 percent which goes to counties to help townships build or replace bridges, 30.5 percent goes directly to townships to help them build and maintain their roads and 53.5 percent goes to a flexible highway account.

The flexible highway account is apportioned to individual agencies for the restoration of former trunk highways that have been reverted to municipalities and counties and designated as state aid.

The 95 percent fund is subdivided, with 62 percent ($1,054,128,000) going to state trunk highways, 29 percent going to county state aid highways and 9 percent going to municipal state aid streets.

In the county state aid portion, $17,370,000 is deducted for administration, disaster and research. Another $3,650,000 is used for roads providing access to recreational areas in cooperation with the DNR and state park road fund.

The remainder of the 29 percent ($483,076,000) then goes to the 87 counties to spend on their state aid roads, with 60 percent of that having to be spent on construction and 40 percent on maintenance.

The share that goes to 147 municipalities in the state first sees a $6,912,000 deduction for administration, disaster and research before the remaining $149,371,000 is distributed to the cities based half on population and half on money needs. It may be used for construction or maintenance.

The MnDOT folder notes that the Legislature sets the distribution formulas. There are 137,586 miles of state, county, city and town roads in the state and 19,361 bridges.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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