…if the State government goes into shutdown mode?
Well, we’re not exactly sure at the moment, but we’re studying it at a fast and furious pace. Eden Prairie is not reliant on State government financial assistance, so we know that we will not be immediately financially impacted. Many cities that rely on local government aid will be impacted and they will have to make some immediate plans to absorb the blow.
Here’s what the League of Minnesota Cities has to say [I clipped this from their website] about the impending shutdown and what might happen if the Governor, the House, and the Senate do what we anticipate they will do: shutdown State government on June 30, 2005:
Local impacts of state government shutdown
Below are examples of the local impacts of the impending state government shut down. A more detailed list is being complied by IGR staff and will be listed in next week�s Cities Bulletin publication.
At least two agencies that are key to city operations�the Departments of Revenue and Finance�will be funded through the 2006-2007 biennium with the Governor�s approval of the omnibus state departments� bill at the end of the Regular Session. The Department of Revenue administers the LGA and market value homestead credit programs as well as most of the current local option sales taxes that have been previously approved by the legislature and the Department of Finance issues the payments for the aid and credit programs.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) would not be issuing any permits or completing any environmental review during a state shutdown of non-essential services. That means that no wastewater facility permits (new or expansion), air permits for power generation facilities, or storm-water permits for larger new development projects would be issued and that final approval of environmental impacts on major projects would not be completed. The agency would continue to monitor and maintain polluted sites for which the state is responsible, continue air quality monitoring and associated health alerts, provide Emergency Response Remediation for hazardous materials containment and clean-up, and provide training and licensing for environmental professionals, including wastewater treatment facility operators.
At a hearing earlier this week, the Department of Transportation officials painted a gloomy picture of what a shut-down would mean for transportation. Without passage of a biennial transportation budget, the following are some activities that would likely be forced to halt:
� operation of highway rest areas (88 in all);
� funding to 69 Greater Minnesota transit programs;
� flow of state aid to county and municipal governments for state aid road projects (note that maintenance aid payments will be made in advance of June 30);
� processing of truck permits for over-weight and over-width loads;
� operation of highway message boards and other motorist information; and
� activities of the Freeway Incident Response Safety Team (FIRST) on the metro freeway system.
