1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to taxation; property; providing a freeze in 
  1.3             estimated market value for homesteads owned by persons 
  1.4             at least 65 years of age; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             1994, sections 273.11, subdivision 5, and by adding a 
  1.6             subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, 
  1.7             sections 273.121; and 276.04, subdivision 2. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 273.11, 
  1.10  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 5.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 
  1.12  contrary, the limitation contained in subdivisions 1 and, 1a, 
  1.13  and 19 shall also apply to the authority of the local board of 
  1.14  review as provided in section 274.01, the county board of 
  1.15  equalization as provided in section 274.13, the state board of 
  1.16  equalization and the commissioner of revenue as provided in 
  1.17  sections 270.11, 270.12 and 270.16. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 273.11, is 
  1.19  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 19.  [HOMESTEADS OF PERSONS AT LEAST AGE 65; 
  1.21  VALUATION INCREASE PROHIBITED.] (a) The market value used for 
  1.22  taxes levied in the current year on class 1 property as defined 
  1.23  in section 273.13, subdivision 22, and that portion of class 2a 
  1.24  property as defined in section 273.13, subdivision 23, 
  1.25  consisting of the house, garage, and surrounding one acre of 
  1.26  land, may not exceed the property's market value used for taxes 
  2.1   levied in the preceding year, if all of the following conditions 
  2.2   are met: 
  2.3      (1) the owners or, in the case of property owned by a 
  2.4   married couple in joint tenancy or tenancy in common, at least 
  2.5   one of the spouses, are at least 65 years of age on January 2 of 
  2.6   the current levy year; 
  2.7      (2) the owner or owners currently own and occupy the 
  2.8   property as a homestead and have owned and occupied the property 
  2.9   as a homestead for at least the last five previous years; 
  2.10     (3) the owner or owners have applied for a valuation freeze 
  2.11  under this section as required in paragraph (b). 
  2.12     (b) An owner or owners must apply to the county assessor by 
  2.13  September 1 of the levy year for which treatment under paragraph 
  2.14  (a) is first requested.  The applicant or applicants must submit 
  2.15  proof of age and any other information required by the assessor 
  2.16  to determine eligibility for valuation under paragraph (a).  In 
  2.17  succeeding years, applicants must submit whatever information 
  2.18  the county assessor deems necessary to determine the homestead 
  2.19  status and continued eligibility under this section. 
  2.20     (c) This subdivision does not apply to any increase in 
  2.21  estimated market value attributable to improvements made to the 
  2.22  homestead. 
  2.23     (d) The county assessor shall annually inform the public of 
  2.24  the availability of treatment under this subdivision as part of 
  2.25  the notice published under section 273.121. 
  2.26     (e) Property that is sold or transferred, loses its 
  2.27  homestead classification, or otherwise no longer qualifies for 
  2.28  treatment under this section shall be assessed for the current 
  2.29  levy year as otherwise provided by law. 
  2.30     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  2.31  273.121, is amended to read: 
  2.32     273.121 [VALUATION OF REAL PROPERTY, NOTICE.] 
  2.33     Any county assessor or city assessor having the powers of a 
  2.34  county assessor, valuing or classifying taxable real property 
  2.35  shall in each year notify those persons whose property is to be 
  2.36  assessed or reclassified that year if the person's address is 
  3.1   known to the assessor, otherwise the occupant of the property.  
  3.2   The notice shall be in writing and shall be sent by ordinary 
  3.3   mail at least ten days before the meeting of the local board of 
  3.4   review or equalization.  It shall contain:  (1) the market 
  3.5   value, (2) the limited market value under section 273.11, 
  3.6   subdivision 1a, (3) the qualifying amount of any improvements 
  3.7   under section 273.11, subdivision 16, (4) the amount of any 
  3.8   market value freeze under section 273.11, subdivision 19, (5) 
  3.9   the market value subject to taxation after subtracting the 
  3.10  amount of any qualifying improvements under clause (3) or any 
  3.11  senior citizen's freeze amount under clause (4), (5) (6) the new 
  3.12  classification, (6) (7) a note that if the property is homestead 
  3.13  and at least 35 years old, improvements made to the property may 
  3.14  be eligible for a valuation exclusion under section 273.11, 
  3.15  subdivision 16, (7) (8) the assessor's office address, 
  3.16  and (8) (9) the dates, places, and times set for the meetings of 
  3.17  the local board of review or equalization and the county board 
  3.18  of equalization.  If the assessment roll is not complete, the 
  3.19  notice shall be sent by ordinary mail at least ten days prior to 
  3.20  the date on which the board of review has adjourned.  The 
  3.21  assessor shall attach to the assessment roll a statement that 
  3.22  the notices required by this section have been mailed.  Any 
  3.23  assessor who is not provided sufficient funds from the 
  3.24  assessor's governing body to provide such notices, may make 
  3.25  application to the commissioner of revenue to finance such 
  3.26  notices.  The commissioner of revenue shall conduct an 
  3.27  investigation and, if satisfied that the assessor does not have 
  3.28  the necessary funds, issue a certification to the commissioner 
  3.29  of finance of the amount necessary to provide such notices.  The 
  3.30  commissioner of finance shall issue a warrant for such amount 
  3.31  and shall deduct such amount from any state payment to such 
  3.32  county or municipality.  The necessary funds to make such 
  3.33  payments are hereby appropriated.  Failure to receive the notice 
  3.34  shall in no way affect the validity of the assessment, the 
  3.35  resulting tax, the procedures of any board of review or 
  3.36  equalization, or the enforcement of delinquent taxes by 
  4.1   statutory means. 
  4.2      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  4.3   276.04, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  4.4      Subd. 2.  [CONTENTS OF TAX STATEMENTS.] (a) The treasurer 
  4.5   shall provide for the printing of the tax statements.  The 
  4.6   commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of the property 
  4.7   tax statement and its contents.  The statement must contain a 
  4.8   tabulated statement of the dollar amount due to each taxing 
  4.9   authority from the parcel of real property for which a 
  4.10  particular tax statement is prepared.  The dollar amounts due 
  4.11  the county, township or municipality, the total of the 
  4.12  metropolitan special taxing districts as defined in section 
  4.13  275.065, subdivision 3, paragraph (i), school district excess 
  4.14  referenda levy, remaining school district levy, and the total of 
  4.15  other voter approved referenda levies based on market value 
  4.16  under section 275.61 must be separately stated.  The amounts due 
  4.17  all other special taxing districts, if any, may be aggregated.  
  4.18  For the purposes of this subdivision, "school district excess 
  4.19  referenda levy" means school district taxes for operating 
  4.20  purposes approved at referenda, including those taxes based on 
  4.21  net tax capacity as well as those based on market value.  
  4.22  "School district excess referenda levy" does not include school 
  4.23  district taxes for capital expenditures approved at referendums 
  4.24  or school district taxes to pay for the debt service on bonds 
  4.25  approved at referenda.  The amount of the tax on contamination 
  4.26  value imposed under sections 270.91 to 270.98, if any, must also 
  4.27  be separately stated.  The dollar amounts, including the dollar 
  4.28  amount of any special assessments, may be rounded to the nearest 
  4.29  even whole dollar.  For purposes of this section whole 
  4.30  odd-numbered dollars may be adjusted to the next higher 
  4.31  even-numbered dollar.  The amount of market value excluded under 
  4.32  section 273.11, subdivision 16, if any, must also be listed on 
  4.33  the tax statement.  The statement shall include the following 
  4.34  sentence, printed in upper case letters in boldface print:  "THE 
  4.35  STATE OF MINNESOTA DOES NOT RECEIVE ANY PROPERTY TAX REVENUES.  
  4.36  THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REDUCES YOUR PROPERTY TAX BY PAYING 
  5.1   CREDITS AND REIMBURSEMENTS TO LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT."  
  5.2      (b) The property tax statements for manufactured homes and 
  5.3   sectional structures taxed as personal property shall contain 
  5.4   the same information that is required on the tax statements for 
  5.5   real property.  
  5.6      (c) Real and personal property tax statements must contain 
  5.7   the following information in the order given in this paragraph.  
  5.8   The information must contain the current year tax information in 
  5.9   the right column with the corresponding information for the 
  5.10  previous year in a column on the left: 
  5.11     (1) the property's estimated market value under section 
  5.12  273.11, subdivision 1; 
  5.13     (2) the property's taxable market value after reductions 
  5.14  under section 273.11, subdivisions 1a and, 16, and 19; 
  5.15     (3) the property's gross tax, calculated by multiplying the 
  5.16  property's gross tax capacity times the total local tax rate and 
  5.17  adding to the result the sum of the aids enumerated in clause 
  5.18  (3); 
  5.19     (4) a total of the following aids: 
  5.20     (i) education aids payable under chapters 124 and 124A; 
  5.21     (ii) local government aids for cities, towns, and counties 
  5.22  under chapter 477A; and 
  5.23     (iii) disparity reduction aid under section 273.1398; 
  5.24     (5) for homestead residential and agricultural properties, 
  5.25  the homestead and agricultural credit aid apportioned to the 
  5.26  property.  This amount is obtained by multiplying the total 
  5.27  local tax rate by the difference between the property's gross 
  5.28  and net tax capacities under section 273.13.  This amount must 
  5.29  be separately stated and identified as "homestead and 
  5.30  agricultural credit."  For purposes of comparison with the 
  5.31  previous year's amount for the statement for taxes payable in 
  5.32  1990, the statement must show the homestead credit for taxes 
  5.33  payable in 1989 under section 273.13, and the agricultural 
  5.34  credit under section 273.132 for taxes payable in 1989; 
  5.35     (6) any credits received under sections 273.119; 273.123; 
  5.36  273.135; 273.1391; 273.1398, subdivision 4; 469.171; and 
  6.1   473H.10, except that the amount of credit received under section 
  6.2   273.135 must be separately stated and identified as "taconite 
  6.3   tax relief"; and 
  6.4      (7) the net tax payable in the manner required in paragraph 
  6.5   (a).  
  6.6      The commissioner of revenue shall certify to the county 
  6.7   auditor the actual or estimated aids enumerated in clauses (3) 
  6.8   and (4) that local governments will receive in the following 
  6.9   year.  In the case of a county containing a city of the first 
  6.10  class, for taxes levied in 1991, and for all counties for taxes 
  6.11  levied in 1992 and thereafter, the commissioner must certify 
  6.12  this amount by September 1.  
  6.13     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.14     Sections 1 and 2 are effective for taxes levied in 1996 and 
  6.15  thereafter, payable in 1997 and thereafter.  Section 3 is 
  6.16  effective for valuation notices beginning with the 1997 
  6.17  assessment.  Section 4 is effective for the proposed notices 
  6.18  prepared in 1996 and thereafter for taxes payable in 1997 and 
  6.19  thereafter.