ST. PAUL – Legislation Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, authored to free up money for transportation projects has cleared its first House committee hurdle.
Specifically, Swedzinski’s bill (H.F. 2061) allows MnDOT and local governments to receive a sales tax exemption on materials, supplies, and equipment purchased by a contractor, subcontractor or builder and used on public transportation projects.
“A lot of folks don’t quite understand that the state of Minnesota, through lump-sum contracts, actually pays sales taxes on the construction materials used in building our roads and bridges,” Swedzinski said. “We came up with a plan for reimbursement where construction companies simply turn in their receipts for materials purchased throughout a project and the state is reimbursed so those dollars stay in transportation where they’re constitutionally dedicated.”
The bill was approved by the House Transportation Finance Committee and is next scheduled to be heard by the committee on taxes.
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