Legislative Session number- 81

Bill Name: SF1276

E Relating to the financing and operation of state and local government ARTICLE
1 - SALES TAX REBATE Providing for refund of the existing state budget surplus
in the form of a rebate of nonbusiness consumer sales taxes paid by individuals
in calendar year using information contained in the Minnesota tax incidence
report to determine the proportionate share of the rebate due to eligible
taxpayers; specifying eligibility; providing separate rebate schedules for
taxpayers filing as married filing joint or head of household and for
individuals filing as single or married filing separately, defining income;
providing for rebates to certain nonresidents; requiring certain adjustments and
specifying a total rebate limit; rebates not made by the commissioner of revenue
by a certain date to bear interest; including the rebate in the definition of
Minnesota tax law for tax data classification and disclosure purposes and in the
definition of overpayment for delinquent tax liability purposes; taxpayer right
to the rebate to expire after a certain date; authorizing certain claims for
correction; subjecting the rebate to revenue recapture; granting the
commissioner certain enforcement authority relating to forged or improperly
endorsed checks and authorizing the commissioner to contract for check or
warrant processing services; authorizing payment of the rebates by electronic
funds transfer; appropriating money to the commissioner for the rebates ARTICLE
2 - INCOME AND FRANCHISE TAXES Excepting tax debts cancelled by the department
of revenue from the provision providing for continued liability for payment of
debts determined to be uncollectible by state agencies, requiring commissioner
of revenue notice to debtors of tax write-offs; prohibiting the consideration of
charitable contributions by individuals for residency determination for income
tax purposes; providing an income tax subtraction for settlement payments
received by certain holocaust victims; reducing the income tax rates for the
first two tiers and modifying the brackets, providing for inflation adjustments,
eliminating the marriage penalty for certain taxpayers; increasing the working
family credit for taxpayers with children; subjecting income of unitary
businesses to apportionment, excepting nonbusiness income, changing the term
trade or business to unitary business, modifying the definitions of unitary
business and nonbusiness income, creating a presumption of the existence of a
unitary business under the unitary business principle and limiting the
assessment of additional taxes on business income in prior years under certain
conditions ARTICLE 3 - FEDERAL UPDATE Updating certain state income tax
provisions to changes in the internal revenue code (IRC) under the omnibus
consolidated and emergency supplemental appropriations act of 1999, the internal
revenue service restructuring and reform act of 1998, the transportation equity
act for the 21st century and the Ricky Ray hemophilia relief fund act of 1998;
updating the definition of internal revenue code for estate tax purposes ARTICLE
4 - SALES TAX Modifying the beginning date for the computation of interest on
capital equipment sales tax refund claims without a schedule reflecting
purchases; prescribing rules for the approval, use and termination of local
sales taxes; granting the cities of New Ulm and Proctor certain local sales tax
imposition and bonding authority, providing for use of the revenues ARTICLE 5 -
MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX Reducing the ad valorem portion of the motor
vehicle registration tax rate and increasing the depreciation schedule;
requiring the commissioner of finance to transfer a certain amount of money from
the general fund to the highway use tax distribution fund and to biennially
provide an estimate of the amount of revenue lost to the highway user tax
distribution fund due to the registration tax reduction ARTICLE 6 - SPECIAL
TAXES Clarifying the exclusion of insurance guaranty joint underwriting
association fees from a certain provision requiring imposition of the same
taxes, fines, deposits, penalties, licenses, fees and conditions on foreign
insurance companies as imposed on domestic companies by the state or country of
the foreign company; requiring the commissioner of revenue to allow refunds of
gasoline taxes paid on undyed kerosene used as fuel for other than motor vehicle
purposes and by distributors on certain leaded gasoline; requiring self haulers
of mixed municipal solid waste from residential generators to pay solid waste
management taxes to the operator of the waste management facility accepting the
waste; clarifying the solid waste management tax on mixed municipal solid waste
ARTICLE 7 - WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION INCENTIVES Increasing the
membership of the job skills partnership board and requiring organized labor
representation; creating the Minnesota workforce development fund for allocation
by the board to educational or other nonprofit training institutions to provide
skills training in employment need areas, to develop programs assisting in the
transition from welfare to work under the pathways program and to provide
dislocated worker, apprenticeship and other job training programs, specifying
certain grant and loan priorities; requiring and providing for the board in
cooperation with the commissioners or economic security and trade and economic
development (DTED) to establish and oversee an early warning system to identify
industries and businesses likely to experience large losses in employment and to
respond quickly and effectively to announced or actual plant closings and
substantial layoffs; authorizing and providing for board grants to certain
eligible organizations to provide initial assessments of the feasibility of
alternatives to plant closings or substantial layoffs (prefeasibility study
grants), specifying certain study requirements; requiring and providing for the
board to establish and fund worker adjustment services plans to assist
dislocated workers in transition to new employment and dislocation event
services grants to provide worker adjustment services to workers displaced due
to larger plant closings and substantial layoffs; authorizing and providing for
board grants to certain eligible organizations to provide for the employment of
dislocated workers or targeted training assistance to workers at risk of
dislocation; requiring the board to coordinate actions of state agencies and
public post-secondary educational institutions to respond to specific needs of
dislocated workers and to establish performance standards for the programs,
specifying certain reporting requirements and cost limits; eliminating the
trigger for reduction of the workforce reinvestment fund payroll tax, tax to be
credited to the workforce development fund; requiring the office of strategic
and long range planning to identify workforce training programs administered by
state agencies and by a certain date to present a plan to the governor and
legislature to consolidate the programs; transferring the responsibility of the
department of economic security for the dislocated worker program to the job
skills partnership board and requiring the governor to designate the board as
the responsible state agency for federal dislocated worker programs;
transferring the unobligated balance in the workforce investment fund and
appropriating money from the general fund to the workforce development fund;
repealing the existing dislocated worker program ARTICLE 8 - MINNESOTACARE TAXES
Modifying the definition of health care provider for MinnesotaCare gross
earnings tax purposes, eliminating the definition of the phrase directly to a
patient or consumer and excluding from the definition home health agencies,
personal care and private duty nursing services and certain employers of health
care providers providing patient services to employees or students; modifying
the definition of patient services to include certain examinations and to
exclude home health care services; expanding the exemption for government
payments, exempting payments received from licensed nursing homes for services
provided to the nursing home from the tax and expanding the exemptions for
payments received for care provided outside the state and by educational
institutions from student tuition or fees; modifying certain estimated tax
payment requirements and the interest rate on estimated tax underpayments;
authorizing the commissioner of revenue to use statistical or other sampling
techniques consistent with generally accepted auditing standards in examining
returns or records and making assessments ARTICLE 9 - PROPERTY TAX Providing for
county auditor collection of unpaid overdue penalties for violation of water
resources protection ordinances; authorizing county board tax levies for
redistricting expenses, limit; authorizing commissioner of revenue abatement of
taxes for taxpayers in presidentially declared disaster areas and eliminating
certain application and attorney general approval requirements; exempting from
the property tax certain electric generation facility personal property not
owned by a public utility and property already exempt and sold to a Minnesota
electric utility before a certain date; extending the exemption for business
incubator property to occupied property; providing for the treatment of certain
property owned by utilities and leased for residential or recreational uses as
separate parcels for property tax purposes; authorizing cities entering into
orderly annexation agreements after a certain date to divide area into urban and
rural service districts constituting separate taxing districts; eliminating the
application requirement for "this old house" treatment in jurisdictions with a
building permit process; providing for the continuation of tax deferral for
certain agricultural property previously subject to the green acres law and
bisected by major parkways or interstate highways; expanding the relative
homestead qualification provision; providing for homestead classification of
certain additional leased land and buildings under certain conditions; providing
agricultural homestead treatment of certain property owned by family farm
corporation shareholders and leased to the corporation; eliminating the limit on
agricultural homestead classification of noncontiguous land; prohibiting local
government units from imposing additional requirements intended to disqualify
property from homestead classification; reducing the property tax classification
rates for certain agricultural property, modifying the tax base differential for
homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) purposes accordingly and expanding
the definition of agricultural products to insects primarily bred as food for
animals; increasing the education homestead credit; expanding the definition of
special taxing districts to the middle Mississippi River watershed management
organization; eliminating the priority for use of net proceeds received from the
sale or rental of tax-forfeited lands; eliminating the restriction on homestead
classification of residences adjacent to the Giants Ridge recreation area;
authorizing county boards to acquire development rights in the form of
conservation easements and expanding the definition of capital improvement to
include the development rights for capital improvement bonds issuance authority
purposes, authorizing statutory cities, counties and towns to issue debt
obligations for the rights; authorizing and providing for county boards to
impose administrative penalties for violation of water resources protection
ordinances; authorizing regional railroad authorities to provide funds to
governmental units to acquire and operate railroads within the jurisdiction of
the authority, imposing a levy limit on the authorities and authorizing certain
joint powers agreements and bond issuance without referendum by authorities
authorized to levy taxes; authorizing and providing for cities to establish
sidewalk utilities and economic development or housing and redevelopment
authorities (HRA) to implement and administer housing improvement areas;
authorizing local government unit cooperation and combination plans to provide
for the equalization of differing tax rates over a certain period of time;
authorizing and providing for the metropolitan council to issue bonds for
transit capital improvement program expenditures, limits; increasing the bonding
authority of the council for the metropolitan radio board; increasing the local
government aid (LGA) base for certain smaller cities; increasing the levy limit
of the Cook Orr hospital district, requiring a certain portion to be used for
ambulance acquisitions; extending the moratorium on changes in assessment
practices for elderly assisted living facilities; authorizing Lake county, the
city of Two Harbors and independent school district 381, Lake Superior to abate
taxes levied on certain property and the county auditor to subsequently record
the conveyance of the property; authorizing administrative fund levies in the
north fork Crow River and Sauk River watershed districts and a cemetery levy by
Carlton county for the township of Sawyer; folding local performance aid into
certain other local government aids; requiring the commissioner of revenue to
develop a proposal for replacement of the revenue lost to local government units
from elimination of the electric utility personal property tax and report to the
legislature by a certain date; appropriating money to the commissioner of
children, families and learning to fund a reduction in the statewide general
education property tax levy; repealing certain provisions providing for 1997
flood loss replacement and local performance aids and the sunset on the
establishment of housing improvement areas ARTICLE 10 - STATE FUNDING OF
DISTRICT COURTS Providing for state assumption of court administration employees
and costs in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth judicial districts; providing
for the payment of certain fees, fines and forfeited bail money collected in the
districts to the state; cancelling the transfer of homestead and agricultural
credit aid to family preservation aid, reducing and delaying the increase in
family preservation aid and providing a HACA offset for court costs; prohibiting
counties in the judicial districts from levying taxes for court functions
transferred to the state; requiring sums forfeited to the county courts to be
reinstated by the state treasurer; appropriating money to the supreme court to
fund district court expenses ARTICLE 11 - LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Providing
for continued property tax exemption of certain property owned by housing and
redevelopment authorities or public housing agencies and sold to a nonprofit
corporation under certain conditions; expanding the definition of qualified
housing district for state tax increment financing aid offset exemption
eligibility purposes; changing the Dakota county housing and 1E Relating to the
financing and operation of state and local government ARTICLE 1 - SALES TAX
REBATE Providing for refund of the existing state budget surplus in the form of
a rebate of nonbusiness consumer sales taxes paid by individuals in calendar
year 1997 using information contained in the Minnesota tax incidence report to
determine the proportionate share of the rebate due to eligible taxpayers;
specifying eligibility; providing separate rebate schedules for taxpayers filing
as married filing joint or head of household and for individuals filing as
single or married filing separately, defining income; providing for rebates to
certain nonresidents; requiring certain adjustments and specifying a total
rebate limit; rebates not made by the commissioner of revenue by a certain date
to bear interest; including the rebate in the definition of Minnesota tax law
for tax data classification and disclosure purposes and in the definition of
overpayment for delinquent tax liability purposes; taxpayer right to the rebate
to expire after a certain date; authorizing certain claims for correction;
subjecting the rebate to revenue recapture; granting the commissioner certain
enforcement authority relating to forged or improperly endorsed checks and
authorizing the commissioner to contract for check or warrant processing
services; authorizing payment of the rebates by electronic funds transfer;
appropriating money to the commissioner for the rebates ARTICLE 2 - INCOME AND
FRANCHISE TAXES Excepting tax debts cancelled by the department of revenue from
the provision providing for continued liability for payment of debts determined
to be uncollectible by state agencies, requiring commissioner of revenue notice
to debtors of tax write-offs; prohibiting the consideration of charitable
contributions by individuals for residency determination for income tax
purposes; providing an income tax subtraction for settlement payments received
by certain holocaust victims; reducing the income tax rates for the first two
tiers and modifying the brackets, providing for inflation adjustments,
eliminating the marriage penalty for certain taxpayers; increasing the working
family credit for taxpayers with children; subjecting income of unitary
businesses to apportionment, excepting nonbusiness income, changing the term
trade or business to unitary business, modifying the definitions of unitary
business and nonbusiness income, creating a presumption of the existence of a
unitary business under the unitary business principle and limiting the
assessment of additional taxes on business income in prior years under certain
conditions ARTICLE - FEDERAL UPDATE Updating certain state income tax provisions
to changes in the internal revenue code (IRC) under the omnibus consolidated and
emergency supplemental appropriations act of 1999, the internal revenue service
restructuring and reform act of 1998, the transportation equity act for the 21st
century and the Ricky Ray hemophilia relief fund act of 1998; updating the
definition of internal revenue code for estate tax purposes ARTICLE 4 - SALES
TAX Modifying the beginning date for the computation of interest on capital
equipment sales tax refund claims without a schedule reflecting purchases;
prescribing rules for the approval, use and termination of local sales taxes;
granting the cities of New Ulm and Proctor certain local sales tax imposition
and bonding authority, providing for use of the revenues ARTICLE 5 - MOTOR
VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX Reducing the ad valorem portion of the motor vehicle
registration tax rate and increasing the depreciation schedule; requiring the
commissioner of finance to transfer a certain amount of money from the general
fund to the highway use tax distribution fund and to biennially provide an
estimate of the amount of revenue lost to the highway user tax distribution fund
due to the registration tax reduction ARTICLE 6 - SPECIAL TAXES Clarifying the
exclusion of insurance guaranty joint underwriting association fees from a
certain provision requiring imposition of the same taxes, fines, deposits,
penalties, licenses, fees and conditions on foreign insurance companies as
imposed on domestic companies by the state or country of the foreign company;
requiring the commissioner of revenue to allow refunds of gasoline taxes paid on
undyed kerosene used as fuel for other than motor vehicle purposes and by
distributors on certain leaded gasoline; requiring self haulers of mixed
municipal solid waste from residential generators to pay solid waste management
taxes to the operator of the waste management facility accepting the waste;
clarifying the solid waste management tax on mixed municipal solid waste ARTICLE
7 - WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION INCENTIVES Increasing the membership of
the job skills partnership board and requiring organized labor representation;
creating the Minnesota workforce development fund for allocation by the board to
educational or other nonprofit training institutions to provide skills training
in employment need areas, to develop programs assisting in the transition from
welfare to work under the pathways program and to provide dislocated worker,
apprenticeship and other job training programs, specifying certain grant and
loan priorities; requiring and providing for the board in cooperation with the
commissioners or economic security and trade and economic development (DTED) to
establish and oversee an early warning system to identify industries and
businesses likely to experience large losses in employment and to respond
quickly and effectively to announced or actual plant closings and substantial
layoffs; authorizing and providing for board grants to certain eligible
organizations to provide initial assessments of the feasibility of alternatives
to plant closings or substantial layoffs (prefeasibility study grants),
specifying certain study requirements; requiring and providing for the board to
establish and fund worker adjustment services plans to assist dislocated workers
in transition to new employment and dislocation event services grants to provide
worker adjustment services to workers displaced due to larger plant closings and
substantial layoffs; authorizing and providing for board grants to certain
eligible organizations to provide for the employment of dislocated workers or
targeted training assistance to workers at risk of dislocation; requiring the
board to coordinate actions of state agencies and public post-secondary
educational institutions to respond to specific needs of dislocated workers and
to establish performance standards for the programs, specifying certain
reporting requirements and cost limits; eliminating the trigger for reduction of
the workforce reinvestment fund payroll tax, tax to be credited to the workforce
development fund; requiring the office of strategic and long range planning to
identify workforce training programs administered by state agencies and by a
certain date to present a plan to the governor and legislature to consolidate
the programs; transferring the responsibility of the department of economic
security for the dislocated worker program to the job skills partnership board
and requiring the governor to designate the board as the responsible state
agency for federal dislocated worker programs; transferring the unobligated
balance in the workforce investment fund and appropriating money from the
general fund to the workforce development fund; repealing the existing
dislocated worker program ARTICLE 8 - MINNESOTACARE TAXES Modifying the
definition of health care provider for MinnesotaCare gross earnings tax
purposes, eliminating the definition of the phrase directly to a patient or
consumer and excluding from the definition home health agencies, personal care
and private duty nursing services and certain employers of health care providers
providing patient services to employees or students; modifying the definition of
patient services to include certain examinations and to exclude home health care
services; expanding the exemption for government payments, exempting payments
received from licensed nursing homes for services provided to the nursing home
from the tax and expanding the exemptions for payments received for care
provided outside the state and by educational institutions from student tuition
or fees; modifying certain estimated tax payment requirements and the interest
rate on estimated tax underpayments; authorizing the commissioner of revenue to
use statistical or other sampling techniques consistent with generally accepted
auditing standards in examining returns or records and making assessments
ARTICLE 9 - PROPERTY TAX Providing for county auditor collection of unpaid
overdue penalties for violation of water resources protection ordinances;
authorizing county board tax levies for redistricting expenses, limit;
authorizing commissioner of revenue abatement of taxes for taxpayers in
presidentially declared disaster areas and eliminating certain application and
attorney general approval requirements; exempting from the property tax certain
electric generation facility personal property not owned by a public utility and
property already exempt and sold to a Minnesota electric utility before a
certain date; extending the exemption for business incubator property to
occupied property; providing for the treatment of certain property owned by
utilities and leased for residential or recreational uses as separate parcels
for property tax purposes; authorizing cities entering into orderly annexation
agreements after a certain date to divide area into urban and rural service
districts constituting separate taxing districts; eliminating the application
requirement for "this old house" treatment in jurisdictions with a building
permit process; providing for the continuation of tax deferral for certain
agricultural property previously subject to the green acres law and bisected by
major parkways or interstate highways; expanding the relative homestead
qualification provision; providing for homestead classification of certain
additional leased land and buildings under certain conditions; providing
agricultural homestead treatment of certain property owned by family farm
corporation shareholders and leased to the corporation; eliminating the limit on
agricultural homestead classification of noncontiguous land; prohibiting local
government units from imposing additional requirements intended to disqualify
property from homestead classification; reducing the property tax classification
rates for certain agricultural property, modifying the tax base differential for
homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) purposes accordingly and expanding
the definition of agricultural products to insects primarily bred as food for
animals; increasing the education homestead credit; expanding the definition of
special taxing districts to the middle Mississippi River watershed management
organization; eliminating the priority for use of net proceeds received from the
sale or rental of tax-forfeited lands; eliminating the restriction on homestead
classification of residences adjacent to the Giants Ridge recreation area;
authorizing county boards to acquire development rights in the form of
conservation easements and expanding the definition of capital improvement to
include the development rights for capital improvement bonds issuance authority
purposes, authorizing statutory cities, counties and towns to issue debt
obligations for the rights; authorizing and providing for county boards to
impose administrative penalties for violation of water resources protection
ordinances; authorizing regional railroad authorities to provide funds to
governmental units to acquire and operate railroads within the jurisdiction of
the authority, imposing a levy limit on the authorities and authorizing certain
joint powers agreements and bond issuance without referendum by authorities
authorized to levy taxes; authorizing and providing for cities to establish
sidewalk utilities and economic development or housing and redevelopment
authorities (HRA) to implement and administer housing improvement areas;
authorizing local government unit cooperation and combination plans to provide
for the equalization of differing tax rates over a certain period of time;
authorizing and providing for the metropolitan council to issue bonds for
transit capital improvement program expenditures, limits; increasing the bonding
authority of the council for the metropolitan radio board; increasing the local
government aid (LGA) base for certain smaller cities; increasing the levy limit
of the Cook Orr hospital district, requiring a certain portion to be used for
ambulance acquisitions; extending the moratorium on changes in assessment
practices for elderly assisted living facilities; authorizing Lake county, the
city of Two Harbors and independent school district 381, Lake Superior to abate
taxes levied on certain property and the county auditor to subsequently record
the conveyance of the property; authorizing administrative fund levies in the
north fork Crow River and Sauk River watershed districts and a cemetery levy by
Carlton county for the township of Sawyer; folding local performance aid into
certain other local government aids; requiring the commissioner of revenue to
develop a proposal for replacement of the revenue lost to local government units
from elimination of the electric utility personal property tax and report to the
legislature by a certain date; appropriating money to the commissioner of
children, families and learning to fund a reduction in the statewide general
education property tax levy; repealing certain provisions providing for 1997
flood loss replacement and local performance aids and the sunset on the
establishment of housing improvement areas ARTICLE - STATE FUNDING OF DISTRICT
COURTS Providing for state assumption of court administration employees and
costs in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth judicial districts; providing for
the payment of certain fees, fines and forfeited bail money collected in the
districts to the state; cancelling the transfer of homestead and agricultural
credit aid to family preservation aid, reducing and delaying the increase in
family preservation aid and providing a HACA offset for court costs; prohibiting
counties in the judicial districts from levying taxes for court functions
transferred to the state; requiring sums forfeited to the county courts to be
reinstated by the state treasurer; appropriating money to the supreme court to
fund district court expenses ARTICLE 11 - LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Providing
for continued property tax exemption of certain property owned by housing and
redevelopment authorities or public housing agencies and sold to a nonprofit
corporation under certain conditions; expanding the definition of qualified
housing district for state tax increment financing aid offset exemption
eligibility purposes; changing the Dakota county housing and redevelopment
authority to the community development agency and modifying powers; authorizing
commissioner of revenue waiver of the limit on border city development zone tax
reduction allocations under certain conditions, reporting requirements;
prohibiting the use of TIF for social or recreational facilities; authorizing
and providing for the transfer of available increments from one TIF district to
another to eliminate deficits caused by property tax classification rate
reductions subject to certain limits and conditions; expanding local tax
abatement authority to the deferral of certain taxes and the abatement of
interest and penalties on the deferred taxes; extending the TIF deficit grant
program and expanding authorized grant uses; extending the duration of
enterprise zones receiving flood relief allocations; making retroactive a
certain provision authorizing the inclusion of certain green acres, open space
or agricultural preserves property in TIF districts; authorizing and providing
for the establishment of airport impact zones and tax increment financing
districts in the cities of Richfield, Bloomington, Minneapolis and Eagan and for
the metropolitan airports commission (MAC) to impose a sales tax on sales at the
Minneapolis-St. Paul international airport; authorizing the city of Brooklyn
Center to change the fiscal disparities election relating to a certain TIF
district; extending or authorizing the extension of the duration of certain TIF
districts in the cities of Inver Grove Heights, Columbia Heights, Dawson,
Fridley and Nisswa; authorizing the city of Garrison to elect a local
contribution for a certain TIF district in lieu of the state aid offset;
authorizing and providing for Itasca county to create an economic development
TIF district to contain an electric power plant adjacent to a taconite mine
direct reduction plant and steel mill; authorizing the city of Medford to use
economic development district tax increment revenues to assist certain
commercial facilities; ratifying the expenditure of tax increments on
administrative expenses and public utility or other improvements by the city of
Minneota for a certain TIF district; authorizing the Mountain Iron HRA to
establish an economic development TIF district for a large commercial facility;
extending the time limit for the commencement of certain activities in a certain
TIF district in the city of Onamia; excepting certain TIF districts established
by the St. Cloud HRA from pooling restrictions; providing for determination of
the duration limit for the Williams Hill TIF district in the city of St. Paul;
authorizing and providing for the city of Woodbury to levy a tax on commercial
industrial properties within the city; specifying certain phrase change
instructions to the revisor of statutes ARTICLE 12 - TAX DELINQUENCY AND
FORFEITURE PROCEDURES Modifying certain property tax forfeiture and delinquency
procedures; eliminating certain state lands delinquent tax sale redemption
provisions; prohibiting the composition into one item or amount by confession of
judgment of certain reclassified residential rental property in the cities of
Minneapolis or St. Paul; requiring the payment of current year taxes and penalty
on certain commercial industrial property due at the time of entry of confession
of judgment; modifying and specifying certain content and service requirements
for notice of expiration of redemption; modifying the time limits for city or
town objections to county board classification or reclassification and sale of
tax-forfeited lands and reducing the time limit for county board withholding of
the land from public sale, requiring the local unit to pay maintenance costs
incurred by the county during the withholding period under certain conditions;
authorizing installment payments for tax-forfeited lands according to county
board policy, restrictions; authorizing county auditors to provide for the
maintenance of tax-forfeited lands before sale; eliminating a certain provision
providing for expenditures from forfeited tax sale funds for the eradication of
noxious weeds; requiring persons repurchasing land after tax-forfeiture to pay
maintenance costs incurred by the county auditor during the time of
tax-forfeiture; authorizing county auditors with county board approval to impose
limits on the use of parcels subject to repurchase; eliminating the requirement
for county board referral of tax reductions or abatements to the commissioner of
revenue for consideration upon school board or city objection and the
requirement for the St. Louis county auditor to reveal the name of tax sale
purchasers in certain records searches; repealing certain provisions relating to
refunds of tax certificates on reform school lands, applications for state tax
deeds, redemption, tax judgment or sale set asides and right to purchase and to
quiet titles and the dismissal of certain actions involving minors, wards or the
mentally ill ARTICLE 13 - TACONITE TAXATION Continuing the freeze on the
taconite production tax and extending the special distribution of tax proceeds
used for grants to taconite producers; authorizing the use of money from the
corpus of the northeast Minnesota economic protection trust fund for grants or
equity investments and eliminating the expiration of the authority of the iron
range resources and rehabilitiation board (IRRRB) to make loans or grants from
the fund for direct reduced iron processing facilities or new mines ARTICLE 14 -
WATER AND SANITARY SEWER DISTRICTS Establishing the Cedar Lake area water and
sanitary sewer district in Scott county and the Banning junction area water and
sanitary sewer district in Pine county under the control and management of
respective water and sanitary sewer boards ARTICLE 15 - AUTOMATIC REBATE IN
ENACTED BUDGET Providing for automatic rebate of certain excess positive
unrestricted budgetary general fund balances to taxpayers at the close of the
biennium; specifying certain rebate requirements, certain duties of the
commissioner of finance and certain plan preparation requirements of the
governor for enactment, modification or rejection by the legislature;
appropriating money to the commissioner of revenue for the rebates; abolishing
the tax reform and reduction account, balance to revert to the unrestricted
general fund balance ARTICLE 16 - MISCELLANEOUS Authorizing and providing for
certain hospitals and clinics to bill the county of residence for uncompensated
care of patients; specifying the assessment date for dishonored checks resulting
in erroneous refunds; providing for the accrual of interest on the penalty for
failure to make tax payments by electronic funds transfer (EFT); expanding the
definition of claimant agency under the revenue recapture act to private
nonprofit hospitals leasing a building from the county; exempting from revenue
recapture settoff claim hearing requirements issues relating to the validity of
claims previously raised at hearings conducted by the federal department of
housing and urban development (HUD) or public agencies responsible for the
administration of low income housing programs; providing for divorced and
innocent spouse taxpayer liability relief; suspending the time period for filing
refund claims during periods of disability; eliminating the time limit for
bringing action in the district or tax court relating to nondenied refund
claims; authorizing the director of the office of strategic and long range
planning to require alternative dispute resolution processes in annexation
disputes; authorizing local government units to issue bonds to refund existing
debt of indoor ice arenas used for youth athletic activities under certain
conditions; extending the expiration date of a certain provision requiring
Washington county to inform property taxpayers of the possibility of release of
personal information for business purposes and the time limit for Chisago county
to certify approval of an aggregate removal tax; providing a contingent
appropriation to the Minnesota minerals st century fund, iron range resources
and rehabilitation board (IRRRB) match requirement ARTICLE 17 - BUSINESS
SUBSIDIES Regulating local and state business subsidies; requiring subsidies to
meet a public purpose other than increasing the tax base and restricting the use
of job retention as a public purpose; requiring grantors to adopt criteria for
awarding business subsidies, public hearing requirement; requiring recipients to
enter into subsidy agreements with grantors, specifying certain content
requirements, requiring subsidies in the form of grants to be structured as
forgivable loans and specifying certain wage and job goal requirements;
requiring public hearings on certain larger subsidies; requiring grantors to
monitor progress by recipients in achieving agreement goals, specifying certain
reporting requirements of recipients and coordination, compilation and summary
publication requirements of the commissioner of trade and economic development
(DTED); requiring appropriation riders to the department for particular
businesses to contain a statement of the expected benefits associated with the
grant; repealing certain existing wage and job growth requirements of businesses
receiving government assistance (ja)