On August 19, 2014, HCRRA committed to 10 percent of the $1.653 billion capital cost of the METRO Green Line Extension Project, not to exceed $165,300,000, and subject to several conditions (Resolution 14-HCRRA-0050).

Due to an increase in the total capital budget to $1.858 billion, on August 30, 2016 HCRRA agreed to increase its funding commitment by $20,500,000 to $185,800,000, subject to several terms and conditions (Resolution 16-HCRRA-0032).

On May 15, 2018, the Metropolitan Council announced that the total capital budget for the METRO Green Line Extension Project has increased to $2.003 billion. The reasons for the cost increase include higher than anticipated costs of the civil construction bids, additional project scope required by recently completed freight rail negotiations, unanticipated relocation costs related to right-of-way acquisition, and inflationary costs related to schedule delay. The council is preparing to submit the METRO Green Line Extension Project for the financial capacity assessment and risk assessment by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). These assessments require that all necessary non-federal funds be committed for the candidate project, and this requirement, in turn, required the council to recalculate and confirm the total estimated project budget.

The council’s funding plan for the METRO Green Line Extension Project continues to anticipate $928 million in federal funding for the project through the Capital Investment Grant Program. This amount was set by the council’s application for the project to enter the engineering phase of work. As a result, any additional increases in project costs must be covered by non-federal funding sources. The council has requested that HCRRA increase its commitment to the project by $13,748,000 for a new not to exceed amount of $199,548,000.

In addition to the requirement that all non-federal funding be committed to the project, financial capacity and risk assessments involve an in-depth review of the council’s Financial Management Plan for the project, as well as the capacity of the project’s non-federal funding partners to provide funding for the project. Following the completion of the financial capacity and risk assessments, the council intends to submit an application for a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) to the FTA, likely in September 2018.

The proposed resolution also identifies a number of conditions on HCRRA’s funding commitment. Attached to the proposed resolution are three exhibits detailing additional requirements for policymaker oversight through the Executive Change Control Board (Exhibit A), agreements as to how certain future funding requirements will be allocated between the Metropolitan Council, HCRRA, and Hennepin County (Exhibit B), and agreements as to additional county involvement in the day-to-day management of the project (Exhibit C). Finally, the proposed resolution identifies the receipt of federal funds in an amount of at least $928.8 million as a requirement for the fulfillment of HCRRA’s funding commitment of $199,548,000.

Current Request: Increase HCRRA funding commitment by $13,748,000 for a new not to exceed commitment of $199,548,000.

Impact/Outcomes: Increasing the HCRRA commitment will allow for the update to the Financial Management Plan, which will be submitted to the FTA as part of its review for the FFGA.