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Overview
Provides a
full or partial valuation exclusion for homesteads of disabled veterans with
a disability rating of 70 percent or greater.
Reduces the
class rate for the first tier of agricultural homestead property from 0.55
percent to 0.5 percent.
Authorizes a reduced property classification rate for
qualifying nonprofit community service-oriented organizations (VFWs, American
Legions, etc.).
Changes
requirements for class 4d low-income apartment property, allowing more
properties to qualify.
Requires
the commissioner of revenue to undertake initiatives to improve public
awareness of and participation in property tax refund programs; requires
notification of the property tax refund program to be printed on the property
tax statement in a large font.
Increases
class rates on public utility personal property to offset the effect of new utility
valuation rules.
Increases
the market value eligible for the first-tier classification of class 1c
homestead resorts from $500,000 to $600,000 and reduces the class rate from
0.55 percent to 0.5 percent.
Allows for joint truth-in-taxation public advertisements
and hearings involving all taxing authorities within a county (Greater
Minnesota only).
Requires a
study of the fiscal disparities program.
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1
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Payment in lieu of taxes; towns that
incorporate as a city.
Allows a town that received a payment in
lieu of taxes in 2006 or thereafter, and subsequently incorporated as a city,
to continue to receive any future year's allocations that would have been
made to the town had it not incorporated, provided that the payments will
terminate if the governing body of the city passes an ordinance that
prohibits hunting within the boundaries of the city. Effective for aid payments made in 2007
and thereafter. Currently the city of
Columbus is the only city to qualify for this provision.
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2
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Retired employee health benefits.
Authorizes school districts located within the taconite tax relief
area to levy for the health benefits for employees who retired before July 1,
1998, if a sunset clause is in effect for the current collective bargaining
agreement. The total amount of the levy each year may not exceed
$600,000. Effective for taxes payable
in 2008 and thereafter.
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3
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Agricultural lands.
Provides
that when property is sold, and the purchaser changes its use in a way that
would result in a classification change, the sales ratio study must take it
into account as soon as practicable.
A change in status from homestead to nonhomestead or nonhomestead to
homestead is not a change in classification under this section. Effective the day following final
enactment.
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4
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Rate adjustment; property tax change.
Requires
the public utility commission to adjust regulated utility rates for the
amount of any property tax changes (i.e., those due to the class rate
changes) resulting from this act for taxes payable 2009 and subsequent years. The adjustments are to be made outside of
a general rate case proceeding.
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5
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Modular homes used as models by
dealers.
(a) Exempts a modular home from property taxation
for up to five assessment years if it is:
}
owned by a modular
home dealer and located on land owned or leased by the dealer;
}
a single-family
model home;
}
used exclusively as
a model and not available for sale;
}
not permanently
connected to any utilities except electricity; and
}
situated on a
temporary foundation.
(b) Provides that the exemption is for up to five
assessment years provided that the modular home meets all of the criteria in
(a). Requires the owner of the
modular model home to notify the assessor within 60 days after it has been
constructed or situated on the property and again if the home ceases to meet
any of the criteria.
(c) Defines "modular home" as a building or
structural unit that has been in whole or substantial part manufactured or
constructed at an off-site location and assembled on-site as a single-family
dwelling. Requires the modular home to comply with certain construction
standards.
Effective for assessment year 2007 and
thereafter. Provides that the
five-year time period begins with the 2007 assessment for a modular home
currently situated provided it meets all the criteria and the county assessor
is notified with 90 days.
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6
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Electric generation facility; personal
property.
(a) Exempts the attached machinery and personal
property that is part of a simple-cycle combustion-turbine electric
generation facility that exceeds 150 megawatts of installed capacity. The proposed facility will be built in the
City of Elk River (Sherburne County).
At the time of construction the facility must:
1.
utilize natural gas
as a primary fuel;
2.
be owned by an
electric generation and transmission cooperative;
3.
be located within
one mile of an existing 16-inch natural gas pipeline and a 69-kilovolt and
230-kilovolt high-voltage electric transmission line;
4.
be designed to
provide peaking, emergency backup, or contingency services;
5.
have received a
certificate of need under 216B.243 demonstrating demand for its capacity; and
6.
have received local
approval from the governing bodies of the county and the city where the
facility is to be located for the personal property exemption.
(b) Requires the construction of the facility to
be commenced after January 1, 2008, and before January 1, 2012. The exemption does not include electric
transmission lines and interconnections appurtenant to the property or facility.
Effective for the 2007 assessment, payable in
2008, and thereafter.
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7
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Apprenticeship training facilities.
All or a portion of a building used exclusively
for a state-approved apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor
and Industry is exempt: if (1) it is
owned and operated by a nonprofit corporation, (2) the program participants
receive no compensation, and (3) it is located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul
standard metropolitan statistical area, or in a city of at least 10,000
outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul standard metropolitan statistical area. The exemption does not include land. Effective for property taxes payable in
2008 and thereafter.
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8
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Monosloped roofs.
Exempts
from property tax monosloped, single-pitched roofs installed over feedlot or
manure storage areas. Effective for
taxes levied in 2007, payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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9
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Certificate of value; requirement.
Requires
that the certificate of value include any proposed change in use of the
property known to the person filing the certificate that could change the
classification of the property. Also
provides that property acquired as part of a like-kind exchange under section
1031 of the Internal Revenue Code must be indicated on the certificate. A certificate of value is filed when
property is sold. It is the basis for
the sales ratio study prepared by the Department of Revenue and used in
equalization of values. Effective for
certificates filed after June 30, 2007.
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10
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Agricultural use.
Changes the qualifications for eligibility
in the green acres program, by providing that:
(1) in at least one of
the three calendar years preceding the assessment year,
(i) the total production
income from the property must be at least five percent of the per acre
agricultural value for the county where the property is located for the previous
assessment year, multiplied by the number of acres in the parcel subject to
green acres; or
(ii) the amount of total
farm expenses shown on Schedule F of the property owner's federal income tax
return must exceed 25 percent of the federal adjusted gross income of the
owner for federal income tax purposes.
Defines "total
production income" as gross income as reported for federal income tax
purposes on Schedule F for the calendar year ending in the year preceding the
assessment year, plus rental income from the property.
Under current law,
either 33-1/3 percent of family income must be derived from agricultural
production or the production income must be $300 plus $10 per tillable acre
of the property.
Effective for taxes
levied in 2008, payable in 2009 and thereafter. Property that qualified under the green acres program for the
2007 assessment (payable 2008) shall not be disqualified in any of the
assessment years 2008 to 2012 because of a failure to meet the requirements
of this section.
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11
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Agricultural value determination.
(a)
Requires the commissioner of revenue to develop a fair and uniform method of
determining an agricultural value for each county that will be used as the
green acres agricultural value.
(b) Provides that when property classified as
agricultural is sold and the purchaser changes its used in a manner that
results in a change of classification, and the sale price exceeds the
agricultural value determined under paragraph (a), the assessor and the
commissioner must review the sale, along with other appropriate sales
information to determine if there are nonagricultural influences in the
value. If it is determined that
nonagricultural factors have affected the value, the resulting sales ratio
shall be excluded from use in any study measuring agricultural value and
applied to a study measuring market value.
Effective for taxes levied in 2009, payable in
2010 and thereafter.
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12
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Implementation of "green acres"
program.
Requires all county assessors to implement green
acres to all eligible properties beginning no later than taxes levied in
2008, payable in 2009, and thereafter, unless the commissioner of revenue
determines that a county is unable to comply with this requirement, in which
case the county must implement it for the earliest assessment year determined
by the commissioner to be feasible.
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13
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Green acres applications denied by county.
Requires
each county (for applications filed for the 2007 and 2008 assessment years),
to forward to the Department of Revenue all applications for participation in
the green acres program that the county has denied, and a list of property
owners who requested an application and were denied. Requires the department to compile a list
of the denials along with the reasons for the denials and file an annual
report by February 1, 2008, and February 1, 2009, with the chairs of the
House and Senate Tax Committees.
Effective for applications filed after the day
following final enactment.
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14
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Local option; homestead property.
Under
current law, a county may grant an abatement to property that has been unintentionally
or accidentally destroyed if 50 percent or more of the structure is
uninhabitable or unusable.
This
bill extends that authorization to damage caused by arson and vandalism, if
committed by someone other than the owner.
If the county board chooses to grant the
abatement, it is based upon a ratio; the numerator of which is the number of
months the structure was unoccupied or unusable, and the denominator of which
is 12 months. The owner must make written application to the county. The abatement may be for taxes in the year
of destruction and in the following year.
Effective for destruction that occurs in calendar
year 2006 and thereafter
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15
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Agricultural homesteads; special
provisions.
Clarifies that the requirement to have at least 40 acres to
qualify for the special homestead classification allows for adjustments made
for undivided government lots and correctional 40's. Also allows property to qualify consisting
of at least 20 acres if used "exclusively and intensively" for raising or
cultivating agricultural products.
Effective for the 2007 assessment, taxes payable in 2008 and
thereafter.
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16
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Relative
homestead registration.
Requires that if the
owner of property that is classified as a relative homestead or the owner's
relative who occupies that property receives compensation for allowing rental
of any part of that property for a period that exceeds one month during the
calendar year, the recipient of the compensation must register the property with
the city in which the property is located no later than 60 days after the
initial rental period began. Each
city is required to maintain a file of these property registrations, that
would be open to the public, and to retain these registrations for one year
after the date of filing. This
section is effective July 1, 2007, and applies to property located in a city
with a population over 25,000.
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17
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Manufactured homes, sectional structures.
Provides
that improvements constructed on property that is leased or rented as a site
for a manufactured home, sectional structure, park trailer, or travel trailer
is taxable only if its estimated market value exceeds $1,000 (storage sheds,
decks, etc.). Under current law these
improvements are taxable if they exceed $500 in value. Effective for assessment year 2007 and
thereafter, taxes payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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18
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Requirement.
Reduces the percentage
of units needed for a property to qualify for the 4d (low-income apartment)
classification from 75 percent to 20 percent. Also allows low-income rental property that is receiving
financial assistance from a local government (and whose units are subject to
rent and income restrictions under the terms of those agreements) to qualify
for the 4d classification. Under current
law, properties must receive assistance from either the state of Minnesota or
the federal government to qualify.
The class rate for 4d is 0.75 percent as compared
to the regular apartment class rate of 1.25 percent of market value. However, as under current law, only the
proportion of qualifying units to the total number of units in the building
qualify as class 4d.
Effective for taxes levied in 2007, payable in
2008, and thereafter.
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19
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Class 1 property (homesteads).
Disabled homestead; class 1b.
Increases
the market value eligible for the 1b classification from $32,000 to
$50,000. This class, which has a
class rate of 0.45 percent, includes homestead property of persons who are
blind and any person who is permanently and totally disabled. Language is stricken relating to
homesteads of disabled veterans, which is obsolete due to the disabled
veterans' market value exclusion in section
24
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Homestead resorts class 1c property.
Increases the amount of market value
eligible for the first-tier classification rate of class 1c homestead resort
property from $500,000 to $600,000 and decreases the class rate of the first
tier from 0.55 percent to 0.50 percent.
Effective for taxes payable in 2008 and thereafter.
Resorts; definition.
Defines a resort for purposes of this
section, paragraph (c) This was part
of a
recommendation from a Department of Revenue task force
required by the 2005 Legislature.
Currently there is no definition in statute and one is needed for
uniformity. These changes are
effective for assessment year 2008, taxes payable 2009 and thereafter.
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20
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Class 2 property (agricultural).
Agricultural homesteads.
Reduces
the class rate on the first tier of agricultural homesteads from 0.55 percent
to 0.50 percent of market value. For
taxes payable in 2007, the first tier of agricultural market value is
$690,000. For taxes payable in 2008,
the first tier will be $790,000.
(This value increase is current law.)
Effective for taxes payable in 2008 and
thereafter.
Rural vacant land.
Establishes a new rural vacant land classification that was
recommended by a Department of Revenue task force. The new classification is intended to improve uniformity in valuing
and classifying this type of rural land.
The 2005 Legislature required the DOR to review this topic. The new subclass includes unplatted real
estate, rural in character, and consists of at least ten acres, including
land used for growing trees for timber, lumber, and wood products but not
used for agricultural products. An
ancillary nonresidential structure (e.g., a hunting shack) does not
disqualify the property from this classification. The establishment of this new subclass will aid assessors in
classifying land more uniformly.
Rural vacant land has a class rate of 1.0%.
The unplatted rural vacant land has a class rate
of 0.65% if it consists of less than 1,920 acres, is under a forest
management plan, and is not enrolled in the sustainable forest resource
management incentive program under chapter 290C.
Short rotation woody crops.
Adds
"short rotation woody crops" to the definition of agricultural products,
making property used for this purpose eligible for agricultural
classification.
Effective for assessment year 2007 and thereafter,
payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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21
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Class 3 property
(commercial-industrial-public utility).
Clause (2) increases the current class rate on
personal property attached machinery of an electric generation system class
rate from 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent for taxes payable in 2009 and 3.0
percent for taxes payable in 2010 and thereafter.
Clause (3).
Increases the current class rate on the personal property of all
transmission and distribution systems from the current class rate of 2.0
percent to 2.15 percent for taxes payable in 2009 and 2.25 percent for taxes
payable in 2010 and thereafter. This
includes systems that are part of a pipeline system transporting or
distributing water, gas, crude oil or petroleum products, including attached
machinery (item (i)); or that are part of an electric transmission or
distribution system, including attached machinery (item (ii)). This includes
transformers and substations.
No class rate changes are made to public utility
real property (i.e., land and structures).
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22
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Class 4 property (non-homestead residential
and miscellaneous).
Community service-oriented organizations.
Expands
the 4c property classification to nonprofit community service-oriented
organizations that make charitable contributions and donations at least equal
to the organization's previous year's property taxes and that allow the
property to be used for public and community meetings or events at no charge,
as appropriate to the size of the facility.
This portion of class 4c has a class rate of 1.5 percent and is made
subject to the state general tax at the seasonal-recreational rate in section
26
, which is about half of the commercial-industrial
tax rate. Under current law, this
type of property is classified as commercial class 3a (the first $150,000 market
value has a rate of 1.5 percent, the market value over $150,000 has a rate of
2 percent, and the property is subject to the state general tax at the
commercial-industrial rate).
Under current law, real property up to a maximum
of one acre that is owned by a nonprofit community service-oriented
organization qualifies for class 4c if the property is not used for revenue
producing activity for more than six days in the calendar year preceding the
year of the assessment. This section
leaves that option, but adds a second alternative to qualify and extends the
maximum land size to 3 acres. The
acreage is made larger primarily to allow for parking lots, ball fields,
etc. Provides that an organization
qualifies if it makes annual charitable contributions and donations at least
equal to the organization's previous year's property taxes
and
it allows the property to be used, size permitting, for public and community
meetings or events for no charge. The
types of organizations that would be affected by this change are the VFWs,
American Legions, Knights of Columbus, etc.
Defines "charitable contributions and donations"
as having the same meaning as the lawful gambling purposes under section
349.12, subdivision 25, excluding those purposes relating to the payment of
taxes, assessments, fees, auditing costs and utility payments. The allowable contributions and donations
include: contributions to scholarship funds for defraying the cost of
education; contributions to an individual or family suffering from poverty,
homelessness, physical or mental disability; contributions for treatment for
delayed posttraumatic stress syndrome or for the education, treatment or
prevention of compulsive gambling; contribution or expenditures on a public
or private nonprofit educational institution; recreation, community, and
athletic facilities and activities intended primarily for persons under the
age of 21; contributions to members of military marching or color guard unit;
etc.
Defines "property taxes" as excluding the state
general tax.
Requires the organization to maintain records of
its charitable contributions and donations and of public meetings and events
held on the property, and to make them available upon request at any time to
the assessor to ensure eligibility.
Requires an organization meeting these requirements to file an
application by May 1 on a form prescribed by the commissioner of revenue.
Effective for the 2007 assessment and thereafter,
taxes payable in 2008 and thereafter.
For the 2007 assessment year, the application deadline is extended to
September 15, 2007.
Resorts definition.
Provides
the same definition of a "resort" under this class 4c (commercial seasonal
resorts) as in section 19
under the class 1c homestead resorts, as recommended
by the Department of Revenue task force.
Effective beginning assessment year 2008, payable 2009.
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23
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Classification of unimproved property.
Contains
a technical change due to the new rural vacant land changes in section 20
.
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24
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Homestead of a disabled veteran.
(a)
Provides a market value exclusion for property taxation purposes for the
homestead of an honorably discharged veteran who has a military
service-connected disability of 70 percent or higher, as determined by the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) This new benefit consists of two tiers:
}
$150,000 market
value exclusion, for a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at
70 percent to 100 percent; and
}
$300,000 market
value exclusion, for a veteran with a service-connected disability rated as
being total and permanent.
(c) Upon the death of a veteran qualifying for
exclusion because of a total and permanent disability, the market value
exclusion carries over to the person's spouse, if the spouse co-owns or
inherits the home and permanently resides in the home.
(d) For an agricultural homestead, the market
value exclusion applies to only the house, garage and surrounding one acre of
land.
(e) Provides that property qualifying for
valuation exclusion under this subdivision is not eligible for the market
value credit.
(f) The property owner must apply to the assessor
each year, unless the person's disability is rated as total and permanent.
Note: Only a 100 percent service-connected
disability can be rated as total and permanent by the US/DVA. However, most 100 percent disability
ratings are not designated as being permanent, leaving open the
possibility of the VA downgrading the rating should the person happen to
recover somewhat.
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25
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Certification of class 1B property.
Provides
that beginning October 1, 2007, any property owner seeking classification and
assessment of the owner's homestead as class 1b property (i.e. blind and
disabled homesteads) will be made to the county assessor instead of to the
commissioner of revenue. The
commissioner shall prescribe the form.
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26
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Definition of seasonal-recreational
property; state general levy.
Includes property which becomes eligible
for the community-service organizations classification under the expanded
eligibility criteria in section 23
in the definition of seasonal-recreational property
for purposes of the state general tax (the state general tax rate for
seasonal-recreational property is approximately one-half the rate for
commercial-industrial property).
Effective for taxes payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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27
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Joint public hearings; nonmetropolitan
counties, cities, and school districts.
(a) Allows the county to hold
a joint public TnT hearing with the governing bodies of all of the taxing
authorities located wholly or partially within the county that are required
to hold a public hearing. States that
the primary purpose of the joint hearing is for taxpayer efficiency by
allowing taxpayers to come to a single public hearing to discuss the budgets
and proposed levies of most of the taxing authorities that impact their
property taxes.
(b) Provides that this joint public hearing
applies only to counties located outside the seven metro-counties. If a city or school district is located
partially within the seven metro counties, that taxing jurisdiction may
participate in its nonmetropolitan county's joint hearing, at its own
discretion.
(c) Provides that upon adoption of a resolution by
the county board to hold a joint hearing, the county shall notify each city
with a population over 500 and each school district that is located wholly or
partially within the county of its intention to hold the joint hearing and
ask each of the taxing authorities if they wish to participate. Participation is voluntary, but is in lieu
of each authority's separate hearing.
(d) Provides that the joint hearing shall be held
on the first Thursday in December.
(That is the counties regularly scheduled date to hold their initial
hearing.) Additional hearings may be
held if taxing authorities want them.
Provides that the county board shall obtain a
meeting space to hold the hearing, preferably at a public building such as a
courthouse, school, or community center, and be as centrally located in the
county as possible.
The meeting shall be structured in the following
general manner:
1.
30-60 minutes,
discussion of county's budget and levy;
2.
30-60 minutes,
discussion of city's budget and levy, each city's discussion must be held in
separate room, preferably in same building;
3.
30-60 minutes,
discussion of school district's levy, each school district's discussion must
be held in separate room, preferably in same building;
4.
the last 30 minutes,
reassemble the joint meeting with all governing bodies to entertain any follow-up
questions.
An attempt should be made to keep the total public
hearing time within 3 hours.
(e) Requires a single newspaper advertisement for
the county and any city or school district that is participating in the joint
hearing. This advertisement is in
lieu of the individual newspaper advertisement that is required in current
law. The cost of the advertisement is
apportioned between the taxing authorities.
Provides that the formal adopting of the taxing
authority's levy must not be made at this joint hearing, but rather at one of
the regularly scheduled meetings of the taxing authority's governing
body. The amount of the levy
subsequently adopted cannot exceed the amount disclosed to taxpayers at the
joint public hearing.
Effective for hearings held in 2007 and
thereafter.
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28
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Special taxing districts definition.
Includes
airport authorities created under section 360.0426 as special taxing
districts for purposes of property taxation.
Special taxing districts have the power to levy a property tax and
certify the tax levy to the county auditor.
Effective for taxes levied in 2007, payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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29
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Contents of tax statements.
Deletes
the requirement that each tax statement contain a line showing the property's
share of the total amount of all state aids paid to taxing jurisdictions
containing the property.
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30
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60 day rule; information.
Clarifies
what specific information is required to be given to the county assessor in
cases where a petitioner contests the valuation of income-producing
property. It includes income and
expense figures in the form of:
(1) year-end financial statements for the year
prior to the assessment date,
(2) year-end financial statements for the year of
the assessment date, and
(3) rent rolls on the assessment date including
tenant name, lease start and end dates, option terms, base rent, square
footage leased and vacant space, verified net rentable square footage of the
building or buildings, and anticipated income in the form of proposed
budgets.
This will make it easier for the
petitioners to know what information must be provided to the county assessor
no later than 60 days after the filing deadline.
Effective for petitions filed beginning July 1,
2007.
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31
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Class 3a property; confession of
judgment.
Increases the total market value from $200,000 to
$500,000 for commercial/industrial (C/I) property to enter into a confession
of judgment. Under current law, owners of C/I property, with delinquent
taxes, may enter into a confession of judgment with the county to set up a
payment schedule to pay off the delinquent taxes over a 5-year time
period. This value has not been
increased for many years.
Effective for confessions of judgment entered into
July 1, 2007, and thereafter.
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32
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Delinquent taxes.
Allows
partial payments to be made for payment of delinquent taxes. The manner in which they are credited is
in the same order as under current law.
Effective day following final enactment. Effective the day following final enactment.
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33
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Property tax refund information in income
tax instruction booklet.
Requires the commissioner to provide a
reference to property tax refunds on the cover of the individual income tax
instruction booklet. Also requires
information on income eligibility and maximum refund amounts within the
instruction booklet. Effective the
day following final enactment.
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34
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Property tax statement.
Requires
the front page of each property tax statement to contain a statement
notifying the taxpayer of the availability of the property tax refund
program, in a font larger than the predominant font of the statement.
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35
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Sustainable forest incentive payments.
Guarantees that the sustainable forest
incentive payment shall not be less than $5 per acre. The formula in current law for determining
the payment is based upon the greater of two different property tax
calculations or $1.50 per acre. Using that formula, the current payments are
$5.24 per acre. Effective for
payments made in 2008 and thereafter
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36
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Definition of municipality.
Includes
airport authority in the definition of municipality.
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37
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General powers; airport authorities.
Provides
that an airport authority has all the powers granted a municipality.
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38
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Creation of airport authorities;
dissolution.
Subdivision 1. Members;
definition.
Authorizes a city together with another
city, county, town, or an Indian tribe to create an airport authority. "Airport authority" means a governmental
entity created for the purposes of acquiring, establishing, constructing,
maintaining, improving, and operating airports and other air navigation
facilities
Subd. 2. Process to establish
authority.
Provides that a city that owns an airport by joint
resolution with other willing governmental units may create an airport
authority that is authorized to exercise its functions upon passage of a
joint resolution by each of their governing bodies, including a proposed date
for the authorities first meeting.
Subd. 3. Airport
authority commission.
Provides the powers of
the airport authority are vested in the airport authority commissioners. The commission must have at least 5
commissioners.
Each participating governmental unit shall
be represented. The terms are three years, provided that initial terms are
staggered so that only one-third of the terms expire each year.
Subd.
4. Appointment of commissioners.
Provides the governmental body of each member
governmental unit appoints a resident of that unit to be a commissioner.
Subd. 5. Compensation;
meetings; officers.
Provides that commissioners shall receive no
compensation for services, but are entitled to receive expenses. A majority of commissioners of the
authority constitutes a quorum for purposes of conducting business. The commission shall elect officers and
may hire an executive director, and other permanent and temporary staff.
Subd.
6. Process to increase size of
authority.
Allows the airport authority to increase in
size by adding additional governmental entities if each of the current
entities adopts a resolution agreeing to the size increase.
Subd. 7. Process to decrease
size of authority.
Allows the airport authority to decrease in size
if each of the governmental entities and the current commissioners consent to
change and make provisions for the retention or disposition of its assets and
liabilities.
Subd.
8. Process to dissolve
authority.
Allows an airport authority to be dissolved
after payment of all debts and adoption of a joint resolution of all
governing bodies. Prior to
dissolution, the property must be sold, transferred, or distributed as agreed
upon, with any remaining funds distributed to the participating units in
proportion to their relative shares of the most recent levy under section
360.0427.
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39
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Airport authorities; levy authority.
Provides
that in any year in which the airport authority imposes a property tax levy,
the authority must certify to the auditor of any county that contains
property within the boundaries of the authority, a uniform tax rate to be
levied on all taxable property within the boundaries of the authority. Effective for taxes levied in 2007,
payable in 2008 and thereafter.
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40
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Hardship assessment deferral; military
persons.
Extends the option to defer certain assessments to members of
the National Guard and military reserves ordered into active service. Currently a county, city, or town, at its
discretion may defer the payment of special assessment for any homestead
property of seniors and disabled persons that it determines causes a
hardship. This section adds National
Guard and reserve members in active service to that authorization.
Effective day following final enactment and
applies to any special assessment for which payment is due on or after that
date.
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41
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Street maintenance and lighting;
Minneapolis.
Amends special law for the city of
Minneapolis relating to street maintenance and lighting to allow the city to
pay from city general revenues part or all of the construction and operation,
as well as maintenance, of streets and lighting.
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42
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Cook-Orr Hospital
District.
Eliminates the specific limitation on the
amount of the levy that may be made by the Cook-Orr Hospital District and
instead, makes that district's levy subject to the general law levy
limitation that applies to other districts.
It also eliminates the restriction that the levy, other than the
portion that is levied for ambulance service expenses, be used only for
capital purposes and not for operating expenses. Local approval is required.
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43
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Cook County
Hospital District.
Modifies the levy authority of the Cook
County Hospital District by eliminating the district's specific levy
limitation in its special law. The
limit was $300,000 for taxes levied in 2002, increased in subsequent years by
the lesser of: three percent or the amount of the increase in the Consumer
Price Index. The district's levy will
now be subject to the general hospital district levy limitation. Local approval is required.
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44
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Exchange of tax-forfeited land; private
sale; Itasca County.
Exempts certain lands in Itasca County that have
been acquired through an exchange from the tax-forfeited land assurance
fee. The proposed land sale is about
$6 million; hence, the 3 percent fee would be about $180,000.
Tax forfeited land is subject to a three percent
assurance fee at the time of sale. It
is collected by the county auditor and sent to the State and deposited in the
general fund. Historically, this
fee/fund was established to assure the tax-forfeiture process so that if any
person was awarded damages relating to tax-forfeited transactions, the amount
would be paid for through this assurance fund.
Effective the day following final enactment.
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45
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Fiscal disparities study.
Requires
the commissioner of revenue to conduct a study of the metropolitan fiscal
disparities program and make a report to the house and senate tax committees
by February 1, 2009. The study is to
consider whether the fiscal disparities program is meeting the following
goals, and what changes could be made in furtherance of the goals:
1.
Reducing the extent
to which the property tax system encourages inefficient development patterns
2.
Ensuring that the
benefits of economic growth are shared throughout the region
3.
Allowing taxing
jurisdictions to deliver services in proportion to their tax effort
4.
Compensating
jurisdictions for low-tax-yield properties that provide regional benefits
5.
Promoting a fair
distribution of tax burdens across the region
6.
Reducing economic losses from competition for
commercial-industrial tax base.
Effective July 1, 2007.
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46
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Participation in crime-free multi-housing
program; Brooklyn Center pilot project.
(a) Requires "qualifying property" under paragraph (b) to participate in a
crime-free multi-housing program in order to receive the 4d property
classification. If "qualifying
property" is located in a city that offers a crime-free multi-housing program
through its city police, the owners or managers are required to complete the
three phases of the program and annually be certified by the police as
participating in the program.
If the property is not certified within one year
after its initial 4d classification, or does not annually maintain its
program certification, the city shall notify the property owner that the
property must be in compliance in order to maintain its 4d
classification. If it is not in
compliance within one year after receiving the notice, a second notice is
issued and the owner has one year to comply.
If the owner is still not in compliance, the Minnesota Housing Finance
Agency (MHFA) shall be notified and the property shall be removed from the
list of qualified 4d properties certified to the county assessor.
Once removed from the list, the property is not
eligible for class 4d until the property owner complies with this
subdivision. Certification to MHFA
must be made by May 15th to be effective for taxes payable in the
following year.
(b) Defines "qualifying property" as property
that:
(1) is located in a city that offers a crime-free
multi-housing program though its city police;
(2) police calls over the preceding two-year time
period, exceeded the average number of calls for multiunit rental properties
in the jurisdiction, adjusted for number of units, by at least 25 percent;
(3) police requested in writing that the owners or
managers enroll in the crime-free program, and they refused or failed to
enroll within 60 days, or failed to complete all three phases of the program
with a specified time; and
(4) is determined by the governing body of the
city to be qualifying property.
(c) Provides that calls for police or emergency
assistance for medical needs or domestic abuse do not count toward the call
limit in paragraph (b)clause (2).
(d) Requires property qualifying for 4d
classification for taxes payable in 2007 to fulfill the requirements of this
section by May 15, 2010.
Local approval is required.
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47
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Clair A. Nelson Memorial Forest; Lake
County; temporary suspension of apportionment of tax-forfeited land proceeds.
(a)
Provides that upon approval of an affected political subdivision within Lake
County, the Lake County Board may suspend the apportionment of the balance of
net proceeds from the tax-forfeited lands within those subdivisions and
retain those proceeds until Lake County is reimbursed for the purchase in
2006 of 6,085 acres of forest land named the Clair A. Nelson Memorial Forest. The amount is $2,200,000 plus any interest
costs incurred by the county.
The county auditor is to make annual settlements
and distributions of the "net revenue" in the county's tax forfeited sale
fund as part of the regular May settlement of property tax receipts. (This apportionment is after certain
authorized expenditures have been taken out of the fund.) .
(b) Provides that any revenue derived from the
6,085 acres of forest land under paragraph (a) is subject to the above
apportionment.
Effective retroactively to January 1, 2006.
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48
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Lakeview Cemetery Association.
Subd.
1. Authorization.
Allows any two or more of the following
municipalities to enter into a joint powers agreement to create the Lakeview
Cemetery Association with the powers and duties of a cemetery association: the cities of Coleraine, Bovey, Taconite,
Marble, and Calumet, and the towns of Iron Range, Lawrence, Greenway, and
Trout Lake.
Subd. 2.
Additions; withdrawals.
Allows any of the eligible municipalities
that do not join the association initially to join later. Allows any cities or towns that are
members of the association to withdraw from the association.
Subd. 3.
Operation; tax levy.
Allows
the joint powers agreement to provide for a uniform tax rate to be levied
against all taxable properties located within each participating city or
town. The total combined levy from
all participating cities and town cannot exceed $200,000 per year. If levied, the tax is in addition to all
other taxes on the property, including taxes permitted to be levied for
cemetery purposes by the city or town and must be disregarded in the
calculation of all other rate or per capita levy limitations imposed by
law. The tax shall be collected by
the Itasca County auditor/treasurer and paid directly to the Lakeview Cemetery
Association.
Background.
Laws
1994, chapter 587, article 9, section 8, allows the town of Iron Range and
the cities of Coleraine and Bovey to levy a tax and make an appropriation not
to exceed $15,000 annually to the Lakeview Cemetery Association. The annual amount was increased to $25,000
in the 2005 omnibus tax law, effective for taxes payable in 2006 and
thereafter. That law is repealed when
the association levies under this section.
Effective for taxes levied in 2007, payable in
2008 and thereafter.
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49
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Tax-forfeited land lease; Itasca
County.
Permits the Itasca County auditor to lease
tax-forfeited land to Minnesota Steel for a period of 20 years for use as a
tailings basin and buffer area. The
lease is renewable. Effective day
following final enactment.
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50
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Ham Lake fire; property tax reduction;
state reimbursement.
Subdivision 1. Property
tax reduction.
Provides that an owner
of property that was destroyed in the Ham Lake fire in 2007 may apply to the
Cook County assessor to receive a reduction in the amount of taxes payable on
the property for 2007 and 2008. The
reduction must be granted if 50 percent or more of the homestead dwelling or
nonhomestead structure as established by the county assessor, has been
destroyed by the fire and related effects and the homestead is uninhabitable
or the other structure is not useable.
Reduces the tax liabilities for the second half of property taxes due
in October 2007 and all property taxes due in 2008 to zero.
If a taxpayer has paid any of the second half 2007
property taxes, they must be refunded.
This reduction is in lieu of the homestead disaster credit under
section 273.123.
Subd. 2. State
reimbursement.
Requires the Cook County Auditor to calculate the
tax on the property described in subdivision 1 based on the January 2, 2007
assessment and to certify that full
amount for taxes payable in 2008 and one-half of the tax for payable in 2007
to the commissioner of revenue.
Provides the commissioner will reimburse the taxing jurisdictions containing
the property at the same time as the regular settlement dates in the same
proportion that the ad valorem tax is distributed.
Subd.
3. Computation of credits.
Provides that the property tax refund must be
computed on the tax actually paid by the taxpayer.
Subd. 4. Appropriation.
Appropriates
$500,000 from the general fund to the commissioner of revenue to make the
payments required under this section.
The amount remains available until June 30, 2009.
Effective the day following final enactment.
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51
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Improving public awareness and
participation in property tax relief programs.
Provides that the
commissioner of revenue, in consultation with county officials, shall make
efforts to improve the public's awareness of and participation in the various
property tax refund programs. Various
options for improving public awareness (inserts in the property tax
statement, more prominent and direct references to the programs on the
statement, notification on the property tax statement envelopes or folders,
etc.) are to be considered. Effective
the day following final enactment.
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52
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Repealer.
(a) Repeals the section of
the 1973 special law that requires the city of Minneapolis to include the
prior year's assessments for street maintenance in the calculations of
aggregate receipts for purposes of levy limits if the city pays for street
maintenance out of general revenues.
There are no levy limits at this time.
(b) Repeals the existing law governing the
Lakeview Cemetery Association, effective when the Association first levies
under the authority granted in section
48
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