The following article by Janet Moore was published in the August 8, 2015 issue of the Star Tribune. 

SWLRT’S Cost Rises by $30M, Officials Say

They say the increase reflects an “accounting maneuver” done to get more federal funding.

Photo: Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

Members of The Lakes and Parks Alliance of Minneapolis, shown in 2014. The uptick in the line’s price provides fresh fuel to Southwest’s critics, who question the project’s “accounting sleight of hand. What other such tricks have they or will they play on the public?” asked Mary Pattock, spokeswoman for the alliance, which has sued the Metropolitan Council over the transit project.

A little over a month ago, the price of the Southwest light-rail line increased to $1.74 billion. But in documents submitted to federal transit officials earlier this week, the cost of the embattled project had crept up by $30 million.

Metro Transit officials attribute the increase to an “accounting maneuver” that reflects the value of a recent land transfer from the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority along the 14.5-mile route. They say the transfer will help the project get even more money from the Federal Transit Administration, which is already expected to foot half the bill. No changes in the scope of the project have occurred as a result.

But the uptick in the line’s price provides fresh fuel to Southwest’s critics, who question the project’s “accounting sleight of hand. What other such tricks have they or will they play on the public?” asked Mary Pattock, spokeswoman for the Lakes & Parks Alliance, a Minneapolis group that has sued the Metropolitan Council over the transit project.