Session Year 2001, Special Session 1

Bill Name: SF0022

Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state and local
government, modifying certain tax provisions ARTICLE 1 EDUCATION
FINANCEProviding for the funding of school districts entirely through state aid
in lieu of local property tax levies; modifying the debt service equalization
revenue and levy formulas and increasing the appropriation to the commissioner
of children, families and learning for payment of debt service equalization aid;
prohibiting the addition of new projects to facilities plans under the
alternative facilities bonding and levy program after a certain date,
eliminating the levy from the program, modifying the aid formula and increasing
the appropriation for payment of the aid; requiring a reserved account to repay
bonds, certificates or notes issued to purchase certain equipment or for certain
capital projects; reducing the general education tax rate, providing for
application to the adjusted school tax base in lieu of adjusted net tax capacity
and removing the exclusion of transition and supplemental revenues from the
levy; specifying certain commissioner state aid approval requirements; defining
school tax base and providing for adjustment; establishing a task force on
elementary and secondary education to recommend replacement revenue for funds
currently generated by the operating referendum revenue and to propose an
alternative source of funding, specifying membership requirements and duties,
requiring a report to the legislature by a certain date; repealing certain levy
provisions, certain aid formulas based on the levies and the education homestead
and agricultural credits ARTICLE 2 SALES TAX REBATEProviding for a sales tax
rebate payable in 2001 based on sales taxes paid by individuals in 1999 using
information contained in the Minnesota tax incidence report; specifying taxpayer
eligibility and prescribing the schedules for taxpayers filing jointly or
separately, providing eligibility for certain additional state residents and
nonresidents and defining income; requiring the payment of interest on rebates
not paid by a certain date; prohibiting rebate adjustments based on changes to
1999 income tax returns after the date of rebate processing; providing for
receipt of rebates by estates of deceased individuals after closing of the
probate estates; including the rebate under the definition of Minnesota tax law
for data disclosure purposes and in the definition of overpayment for delinquent
tax liability purposes and subjecting the rebate to revenue recapture; taxpayer
right to the rebate to expire after a certain date; providing for claims for
unpaid rebates; granting the commissioner of revenue certain enforcement
authority relating to forged or improperly endorsed checks and to overstated or
erroneously issued rebates; authorizing the commissioner to take whatever action
necessary to pay the rebates; authorizing payment by electronic funds transfer
to certain individuals; setting the maximum total rebate amount, requiring
certain commissioner adjustments; appropriating money to the commissioner for
rebates administration purposes and to the state treasurer for the cost of
clearing sales tax rebate checks through commercial banksARTICLE 3 STATE
TAKEOVER OF COUNTY SERVICESProviding for state payment of trial court
administrator and employee costs in the first, second, third, fourth, sixth and
tenth judicial districts; providing for initial assignment of employee
classifications to bargaining units by the state court administrator; requiring
and providing for commissioner of revenue reimbursements to counties for certain
child out of home placement costs and appropriating money to the commissioner of
human services for the payments, specifying certain total payment limits;
providing a homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) offset for certain
court costs, specifying certain reduction requirements; specifying certain
county temporary maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements; providing for
temporary aid for court administration and certain mandated services costs for
judicial districts not transferred to the state by a certain date and for
transition aid to assist in the transition from property tax to state funding of
administration costs; providing additional money for county criminal justice
aid; providing for the transfer of fines, forfeited bail money and certain court
fees and a schedule for the transfer of court services and positions to the
state; requiring county payment of certain post-retirement benefit costs and
provision of suitable facilities for court purposes; providing for transfer of
certain employee property to the state; increasing the base appropriation to the
supreme courtARTICLE 4 PROPERTY TAXESAuthorizing certain school districts to
levy for swimming pool operating costs; authorizing and providing for counties,
cities or towns to establish special taxing districts for emergency medical
services (EMS), providing for expansion of and withdrawal from the districts and
for dissolution; expanding the requirement for public utilities to accept and
consider other proposals under the biomass mandate to a proposal for a new
facility to satisfy a certain number of megawatts of the electrical generation
requirements by a small business sponsored independent power producer facility
to be located in the northern quarter of the state and using biomass residue
wood, sawdust, bark, chipped wood or brush to generate electricity, qualifying
the eligible facility for a personal property tax exemption; providing property
tax exemptions for attached machinery and other personal property of certain
poultry litter and other biomass electrical generation and waste tire
cogeneration facilities under certain conditions and for certain personal
property used to generate electricity from certain new generating plants or
natural gas peaking storage facilities, providing a partial exemption for an
increase in nameplate capacity, requirements; extending class 4c property to
certain licensed child care provider facilities; increasing the city aid base
for local government aid (LGA) purposes; providing payments in lieu of taxes for
natural resources lands acquired by the department of transportation (DOT) to
replace wetland losses caused by transportation projects; requiring and
providing for commissioner of revenue reconveyance of certain tax-forfeited land
in Dakota county to special school district 6, South St. Paul for no
consideration under certain conditions; authorizing independent school district
319, Nashwauk-Keewatin to annually levy to finance the Nashwauk school community
library and community service project, limit; authorizing and providing for
property tax abatements on certain tornado damaged property in Yellow Medicine
and Chippewa countiesARTICLE 5 INCOME TAXESProviding an income tax subtraction
for military compensation received for active duty in the armed forces outside
the state; expanding the dependent care income tax credit to employment related
expenses for the care of certain older children for certain individuals;
expanding the education credit to amounts paid for certain extracurricular
activities and modifying certain limits ARTICLE 6 SALES TAXESExpanding the
definition of farm machinery for sales tax exemption purposes; imposing the
sales tax on retail sales of prefabricated homes, defining prefabricated home;
exempting from the sales tax certain energy efficient products or appliances and
materials, supplies and equipment used in the construction, improvement or
expansion of certain agricultural processing facilities, of the Yellow Medicine
county law enforcement and family service center, of certain facilities using
poultry litter biomass or waste tires to generate electricity and of certain
qualified low income housing projects; expanding exemptions from the sales tax
on motor vehicles to vehicles using certain alternative fuels; extending the
sales tax exemptions for certain biomass electric generating and agricultural
processing facilities construction materials and supplies ARTICLE 7 HEALTH CARE
TAXESEstablishing a reserve within the health care access fund to preserve and
protect access to publicly funded basic health care services, providing for
funding; repealing the MinnesotaCare provider gross earnings tax and the gross
premium taxes imposed on health maintenance organizations (HMO), nonprofit
health service plan corporations and community integrated service networks
(CISN), requiring pass-through of the savings to consumers as reduced premium
rates; requiring the commissioner of finance to deposit certain payments due
under the terms of the tobacco settlement into and requiring the crediting of
certain cigarette tax proceeds to the health care access fund ARTICLE 8 MINERALS
TAXATIONRelating to the taconite production tax; modifying the definition of tax
relief area for certain loan or equity investment equal match, taconite tax and
property tax relief purposes; providing for school district recognition of
taconite production tax aid; modifying the formula and payment dates for
supplementary homestead property tax relief and specifying an iron range
resources and rehabilitation board spending priority for programs and projects
targeting relief to portions of the redefined area with the largest percentage
of job and population losses directly attributable to the economic downturn in
the taconite industry; modifying the distribution of taconite production tax
proceeds to certain cities and towns; increasing the taconite production tax
rate; appropriating money to the commissioner of children, families and learning
for certain distributions to school districts; reducing the amount of tax
allocated to St. Louis county for distribution for property tax relief;
maintaining the amount to be paid to the northeast Minnesota economic protection
trust and taconite economic development funds and increasing the amount to be
paid to the taconite environmental fund; clarifying a certain provision
providing for distribution of the remainder of the tax proceeds; providing for
the deposit of certain delayed payments in the general fund; extending the
restriction on the use of the corpus of the northeast Minnesota economic
protection trust fund, eliminating producer loans and authorizing grants for pit
or plant maintenance and repairs; modifying the definition of aggregate material
and expanding the definition of county for production tax purposes, increasing
the tax rate and modifying the allocation of proceeds; providing for state aid
to cities, counties, townships, school districts, the taconite property tax
relief fund, the IRRRB, the range association of municipalities and schools and
the taconite environmental protection and northeast Minnesota economic
protection trust funds, requiring commissioner of revenue distribution by a
certain dateARTICLE 9 SUSTAINABLE FOREST INCENTIVE ACTModifying certain
provisions under the auxiliary forest tax law, qualifying previously enrolled
lands for the sustainable forest incentive program, providing for calculation of
the tax difference; expanding the definition of refund under the revenue
recapture act to sustainable forest tax payments; enacting the "Sustainable
Forest Incentive Act" to encourage private forest landowner long term
commitments to sustainable forest management, specifying property eligibility,
application and certification requirements and providing for calculation of the
incentive payment, requiring removal of property from the program for tax
delinquency; repealing the tree growth tax law ARTICLE 10
MISCELLANOUSAuthorizing temporary waiver of state agency services fees in
disaster or emergency areas with the approval of the governor; reducing the
lawful gambling, pull tab and tipboard and combined receipts tax rates;
exempting from solid waste management taxes construction debris generated from
repair and demolition activities caused by disasters and extending the time
limit for the filing certain financial reports by cities and towns located in
presidentially declared disaster areas under certain conditions; appropriating
money to the commissioner of revenue for grants to certain nonprofit
organizations for taxpayer assistance services provided by volunteers to low
income and disadvantaged residents (je)