1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to property taxation; abolishing the property 
  1.3             tax levy for transit in the twin cities metropolitan 
  1.4             area; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             1998, sections 473.388, subdivisions 4 and 7; and 
  1.6             473.446, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 473.388, 
  1.9   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 4.  [FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.] The council may must 
  1.11  grant the requested financial assistance if it determines that 
  1.12  the proposed service is intended to replace the service to the 
  1.13  applying city or town or combination thereof by the council and 
  1.14  that the proposed service will meet the needs of the applicant 
  1.15  at least as efficiently and effectively as the existing service. 
  1.16     The amount of assistance which the council may provide 
  1.17  under this section may not exceed the sum of be less than:  
  1.18     (a) the portion of the available local transit funds which 
  1.19  the applicant proposes to use to subsidize the proposed 
  1.20  service the grants received under this subdivision by the 
  1.21  applicant in calendar year 2000 and the tax revenues of the 
  1.22  applicant for transit services for taxes payable in 2000; and 
  1.23  times 
  1.24     (b) an amount of financial assistance bearing an identical 
  1.25  proportional relationship to the amount under clause (a) as the 
  1.26  total amount of funds used by the council to fund its transit 
  2.1   operations bears to the ratio of the total appropriation to the 
  2.2   council for nondebt transit operations for the current calendar 
  2.3   year, to the sum of the total appropriation to the council for 
  2.4   nondebt transit operations in calendar year 2000 and the total 
  2.5   amount of taxes collected by the council under section 
  2.6   473.446 in calendar year 2000, including the portion of the 
  2.7   council's homestead and agricultural credit aid under section 
  2.8   273.1398 attributable to the nondebt transit levy.  The council 
  2.9   shall pay the amount to be provided to the recipient from the 
  2.10  funds the council would otherwise use to fund its transit 
  2.11  operations.  
  2.12     For purposes of this section, "available local transit 
  2.13  funds" means 90 percent of the tax revenues which would accrue 
  2.14  to the council from the tax it levies under section 473.446 in 
  2.15  the applicant city or town or combination thereof.  
  2.16     For purposes of this section, "tax revenues" in the city or 
  2.17  town means the sum of the following: 
  2.18     (1) the nondebt spread levy, which is the total of the 
  2.19  taxes extended by application of the local tax rate for nondebt 
  2.20  purposes on the taxable net tax capacity; 
  2.21     (2) the portion of the fiscal disparity distribution levy 
  2.22  under section 473F.08, subdivision 3, attributable to nondebt 
  2.23  purposes; and 
  2.24     (3) the portion of the homestead credit and agricultural 
  2.25  credit aid and disparity reduction aid amounts under section 
  2.26  273.1398, subdivisions 2 and 3, attributable to nondebt purposes.
  2.27     Tax revenues do not include the state feathering 
  2.28  reimbursement under section 473.446. 
  2.29     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 473.388, 
  2.30  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  2.31     Subd. 7.  [LOCAL LEVY OPTION.] (a) A statutory or home rule 
  2.32  charter city or town that is eligible for assistance under this 
  2.33  section, in lieu of receiving the assistance, may levy a tax for 
  2.34  payment of the operating and capital expenditures for transit 
  2.35  and other related activities and to provide for payment of 
  2.36  obligations issued by the municipality before May 1, 2000, 
  3.1   for such purposes, provided that the tax must be sufficient to 
  3.2   maintain the level of transit service provided in the 
  3.3   municipality in the previous year capital expenditures for 
  3.4   transit and other related activities, provided that property 
  3.5   taxes were pledged to satisfy the obligations, and provided that 
  3.6   legislative appropriations are insufficient to satisfy the 
  3.7   obligations. 
  3.8      (b) The transit tax revenues derived by the municipality 
  3.9   may not exceed: 
  3.10     (1) for the first transit levy year and any subsequent 
  3.11  transit levy year immediately following a year in which the 
  3.12  municipality declines to make the levy, the maximum available 
  3.13  local transit funds for the municipality for taxes payable in 
  3.14  the current year under section 473.446, calculated as if the 
  3.15  percentage of transit tax revenues for the municipality were 88 
  3.16  percent instead of 90 percent, and multiplied by the 
  3.17  municipality's market value adjustment ratio; and 
  3.18     (2) for taxes levied in any year that immediately follows a 
  3.19  year in which the municipality elects to levy under this 
  3.20  subdivision, the maximum transit tax that the municipality may 
  3.21  have levied in the previous year under this subdivision, 
  3.22  multiplied by the municipality's market value adjustment ratio. 
  3.23     The commissioner of revenue shall certify the 
  3.24  municipality's levy limitation under this subdivision to the 
  3.25  municipality by June 1 of the levy year.  The tax must be 
  3.26  accumulated and kept in a separate fund to be known as the 
  3.27  "replacement transit fund." 
  3.28     (c) To enable the municipality to receive revenues 
  3.29  described in clauses (2) and (3) of the definition of "tax 
  3.30  revenues" in subdivision 4, that would otherwise be lost if the 
  3.31  municipality's transit tax levy was not treated as a successor 
  3.32  levy to that made by the council under section 473.446: 
  3.33     (1) in the first transit levy year and any subsequent 
  3.34  transit levy year immediately following a year in which the 
  3.35  municipality declined to make the levy, 88 percent of the 
  3.36  council's nondebt spread levy for the current taxes payable year 
  4.1   shall be treated as levied by the municipality, and not the 
  4.2   council, for purposes of section 473F.08, subdivision 3, for the 
  4.3   purpose of determining its local tax rate for the preceding 
  4.4   year; and 
  4.5      (2) 88 percent of the revenues described in clause (3) of 
  4.6   the definition of "tax revenues" in subdivision 4, payable in 
  4.7   the first transit levy year, or payable in any subsequent 
  4.8   transit levy year following a year in which a municipality 
  4.9   declined to make the levy, shall be permanently transferred from 
  4.10  the council to the municipality.  If a municipality levies a tax 
  4.11  under this subdivision in one year, but declines to levy in a 
  4.12  subsequent year, the aid transferred under this clause shall be 
  4.13  transferred back to the council. 
  4.14     (d) Any transit taxes levied under this subdivision are not 
  4.15  subject to, or counted towards, any limit hereafter imposed by 
  4.16  law on the levy of taxes upon taxable property within any 
  4.17  municipality unless the law specifically includes the transit 
  4.18  tax. 
  4.19     (e) This subdivision is consistent with the transit 
  4.20  redesign plan.  Eligible municipalities opting to levy the 
  4.21  transit tax under this subdivision shall continue to meet the 
  4.22  regional performance standards established by the council. 
  4.23     (f) Within the designated Americans with Disabilities Act 
  4.24  area, metro mobility remains the obligation of the state. 
  4.25     (g) For purposes of this subdivision, "transit levy year" 
  4.26  is any year in which the municipality elects to levy under this 
  4.27  subdivision. 
  4.28     (h) A municipality may not levy taxes under this 
  4.29  subdivision in any year unless it notifies the council and the 
  4.30  commissioner of revenue of its intent to levy before July 1 of 
  4.31  the levy year.  The notification must include the amount of the 
  4.32  municipality's proposed transit tax for the current levy year.  
  4.33  After June 30 in the levy year, a municipality's decision to 
  4.34  levy or not levy taxes under this subdivision is irrevocable for 
  4.35  that levy year. 
  4.36     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 473.446, is 
  5.1   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.2      Subd. 1c.  [TRANSIT LEVY AFTER 2000.] Notwithstanding any 
  5.3   other provision of this section, beginning with taxes payable in 
  5.4   2001, the council may levy the transit tax authorized under 
  5.5   subdivision 1 only for the purpose of providing for the full and 
  5.6   timely payment of bonds, certificates of indebtedness, and other 
  5.7   obligations issued by the council before May 1, 2000, to which 
  5.8   property taxes under this section have been pledged, and for 
  5.9   which legislative appropriations are insufficient. 
  5.10     Sec. 4.  [HACA ADJUSTMENTS.] 
  5.11     (a) Homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) under 
  5.12  Minnesota Statutes, section 273.1398, is permanently reduced for 
  5.13  each city and town for aids payable in 2001 and subsequent years 
  5.14  by an amount equal to the amount levied within the municipality 
  5.15  under Minnesota Statutes, section 473.446, subdivision 1 or 1a, 
  5.16  or 473.388, subdivision 7, for taxes payable in 2000. 
  5.17     (b) HACA payments to the metropolitan council are 
  5.18  permanently reduced for 2001 and subsequent years by the HACA 
  5.19  attributable to transit levies for aids payable in 2000. 
  5.20     (c) HACA payments to opt-out municipalities levying under 
  5.21  Minnesota Statutes, section 473.388, subdivision 7, are 
  5.22  permanently reduced for 2001 and subsequent years by the amount 
  5.23  of the HACA attributable to the opt-out transit levy for aids 
  5.24  payable in 2000. 
  5.25     Sec. 5.  [FISCAL DISPARITIES ADJUSTMENT.] 
  5.26     Even though the metropolitan council is not permitted to 
  5.27  levy for transit services for taxes payable in 2001, the council 
  5.28  is eligible to receive the distribution levy to which it would 
  5.29  otherwise be entitled under Minnesota Statutes, section 473F.08, 
  5.30  subdivision 3, for taxes payable in 2001, based upon the tax 
  5.31  rate levied in payable 2000. 
  5.32     Sec. 6.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  5.33     The sum of $118,100,000 is appropriated from the general 
  5.34  fund to the chair of the metropolitan council for the payment of 
  5.35  the operating and capital expenditures for transit and other 
  5.36  related services for calendar year 2001.  
  6.1      Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.2      Sections 2, 3, and 5 are effective for taxes payable in 
  6.3   2001.  Sections 1 and 4 are effective for calendar year 2001.