The City of Minot’s Sales Tax Reform (Flood Protection Funding) Ad Hoc Committee met yesterday to continue the discussion on funding the local share of our long-term flood protection plan.
Following the legislature’s estimated appropriation of $70 million in the current biennium, a $20 million carryover from the last biennium, and written intent to appropriate another $123 million in coming bienniums, the state has basically stepped up and provided their share to get the project moving.
The plan is to construct the project from West to East with the initial focus on protecting areas North of the river from the bypass to 3rd Street SE. With these first phases completed, approximately 60% of homes from FEMA’s soon-to-be-revised floodplain maps will be protected for about 40% of the estimated project cost.
So, with the state stepping forward, the challenge is to fund Minot’s 35% share of the project cost. In total, that’s expected to be about $336 million, but for the first phases, the immediate need is $112 million. The graphic below captures the areas impacted by the first construction phases. Grab the slider to see the impact.
You can watch full meeting in the video below, but the outcome was to send City staff back to run additional financing models using a revenue bond based on allocating a full penny of sales tax toward flood protection. The video starts directly at City Manager Tom Barry’s comments on the problem.
Committee members are Chairman Dean Frantsvog, former City Manager Bob Schemp, Chamber of Commerce Director John McMartin, MADC Director Stephanie Hoffart, Alderman Shannon Straight, and Alderman Hedberg.
Here’s the breakdown of construction costs of the first phases for North Minot.
