Counties Transit Improvement Board

About the Program

Category: Transportation (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

A big priority for any county in America today is to improve and revitalize the local transit system. As metropolitan areas continue to sprawl into rural regions, local governments are constantly planning the inevitable rise in population and traffic. Undeniably, a growing region needs a strong transit system. However, as budgets get tighter every year, it becomes more difficult to build an advanced transit network. In response, Hennepin County partnered with neighboring governments to create the new Transit Improvement Board to give a solution to the transit dilemma. The Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) is a joint powers board in Minnesota that formed in 2008 to accelerate transit development in the metropolitan counties of Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington. These counties individually authorized the imposition of a one-quarter percent sales tax and a twenty dollar motor vehicle excise tax devoted to regional transit development. Through CTIB, these five counties work together to achieve consensus on the awarding the proceeds of this sale tax as grants to regional transitways. This revenue provides a reliable, long-term source of transit funding for capital development and operations that reduces reliance on property tax dollars. In all, a total of $467 million in grants has been awarded to nine transitway corridors in five counties since the creation of CTIB in 2008. Through grants awarded 2008-2011, CTIB has provided approximately $64.1 million in property tax relief. The Counties Transit Improvement Board is an example of leadership by counties that generated a creative solution to address a shared problem.