GOP questions state Senate parking fees
Republicans in the Minnesota Senate contend that the new legislative office building they continue to oppose will cost taxpayers more than originally expected.
GOP lawmakers said they were recently notified that Senate funds will be used this year to defray the cost of parking rates in the ramp attached to the new building. The monthly rate will be $74.28.
The $90 million project was supposed to cost taxpayers $77 million, with the remaining $13 million coming from parking fees.
Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound, said he’s concerned that taxpayers will now pick up a bigger share.
“Now that we’re subsidizing again, the price tag is back up going toward $90 million again,” Osmek said. “I’m here to make sure the public understands that that discount, bargain basement price ain’t so anymore.”
Alyssa Siems Roberson, a spokeswoman for the Senate DFL Caucus, said the new rate structure is available to all Senate staff and was a response to concerns over the initial parking rates. She said the parking ramp is still user financed, and that cost savings within the Senate budget allowed for the lower rates.
DFL senators and staff, who were displaced last spring by the Capitol renovation, are scheduled to move into the new Senate building this month. Republican Senators have declined to move from their current quarters in the State Office Building.
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