Edina Gets $182K Grant For Gas-Tax Revenues Lost Amid Pandemic

EDINA, MN — The city of Edina is set to receive $182,000 to help replace some of the funding it lost as gas-tax revenues dropped significantly during 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Metropolitan Council is distributing $20 million to seven counties and 81 cities throughout the Twin Cities metro, which will offset some of the projected gas-tax revenues that weren't collected since March 2020 with people commuting and traveling far less amid the pandemic.

The Met Council said the significant drop in driving in the region resulted in a loss of almost $21 million in funding for county state-aid highways in 2021, plus a loss of about $11.6 million in funding for municipal roadwork projects.

3 Edina Schools On MN’s COVID-19 Outbreak List

Officials said maintenance work, road-safety initiatives and other projects have been delayed over the past year due to a lack of funding.

“The cities and counties have no shortage of projects to use this funding on,” the Met Council said in a news release.

The Met Council voted to distribute $20 million in federal funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Appropriations Act to all seven metro counties and more than 80 cities with a population of more than 5,000 people.

Pedestrian Bridge In Edina Closes After Being Hit By Vehicle

The funding will be distributed based on the state-aid formula that is used to allocate gas-tax revenues, officials said.

Counties are set to receive almost $10.3 million of that funding, with cities to split just over $9.8 million.