DEPARTMENT: Office of the County Manager
FILE TYPE: Regular Information
TITLE
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Update On And Discussion Of Metropolitan Council Reform
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Receive an update on and discuss efforts to reform the Metropolitan Council.
SUMMARY
In Minnesota Laws 2023, Chapter 68, Article 4, Section 123, a Metropolitan Governance Task Force was established to "study and evaluate options to reform and reconstitute governance of the Metropolitan Council". The duties of the task force include providing an analysis of the costs and benefits of: (1) direct election of members to the Metropolitan Council; (2) a combination of directly elected and appointed members to the Metropolitan Council; (3) a council of governments which would replace the current Metropolitan Council; (4) reapportioning responsibilities of the Metropolitan Council to state agencies and local units of government; (5) adoption of a home rule charter for governance of the Metropolitan Council; and (6) any other regional governance approaches that are viable alternatives to the current structure of the Metropolitan Council. The task force must report its findings and recommendations to the legislature by February 1, 2024.
To support the reform efforts, the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) and the Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA) have formed working groups to further monitor and advise on task force work and to develop proposals for reform. MICA has an existing position in support of council reformation, stating that the association "urges the...Legislature to reform the Metropolitan Council by changing its composition so that a majority of its members are elected officials and by requiring staggered terms for the council's members who are not elected officials."
Dakota County has adopted a position that the county supports "reformation of the Metropolitan Council governance structure to increase accountability to their regional constituency."
This item will provide an o...
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