Minnesota Association of Townships

The Mission of the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) is to support and promote the township form of local government in Minnesota through educational programs, structured advocacy, vital collaboration, and procurement of critical resources fundamental to local governments. The Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) is a nonprofit corporation representing 1,780 of Minnesota's 1,781 townships. MAT is a voluntary membership organization with membership generally coordinated through a town's participation in a local County Township Association. The County Township Associations provide a forum for disseminating information and for resolving local problems. Each County Township Association has its own board of directors. There are over 9,000 town officers in the State. The Minnesota Association of Townships is guided by a 13-member board of directors representing 13 state districts. The office is located in St. Michael, Minnesota. MAT is managed by an executive director with a staff of 13 full-time employees, a contracted claims administrator and a contracted lobbyist. Based in the most recent estimate for the state demographer's office, approximately 924,158 residents of Minnesota live in a Township. Townships provided a variety of services to these residents including being responsible for the maintenance of approximately 55,000 miles of roads, more than any other single level of road authority in the State. It is not uncommon for townships to organize or dissolve over time causing the number of townships to change. Townships can organize from unorganized land (mostly in the Northern part of the state) while merging, annexation and incorporation into a city cause townships to dissolve. 1,802 is the most townships the state has ever had. The newest township is Long Lost Lake Township in Clearwater County - organized on 11/8/05. The last townships to dissolve was Hassan Township in Hennepin County. Hassan Township agreed to an orderly annexation with the city of Rogers and the process was completed on December 31, 2011.