HF 4044

1st Engrossment - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 03/25/2024 03:40pm

A bill for an act
relating to taxation; property; establishing a credit for certain acres certified under
the Minnesota agricultural water quality certification program; requiring a report;
appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 273.1393;
276.04, subdivision 2; Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, sections 273.1392;
275.065, subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 273.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [273.1388] AGRICULTURAL WATER QUALITY CREDIT.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Eligibility. new text end

new text begin (a) A property is eligible for an agricultural water quality
credit under this section if the property is:
new text end

new text begin (1) class 2a or 2b property under section 273.13, subdivision 23;
new text end

new text begin (2) certified by the commissioner of agriculture or a certifying agent under sections
17.9891 to 17.993; and
new text end

new text begin (3) located in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or
Winona County; one or more of the following townships in Dakota County: Nininger,
Empire, Vermillion, Marshan, Ravenna, Eureka, Castle Rock, Hampton, Douglas, Greenvale,
Waterford, Sciota, or Randolph; or one or more of the following townships in Rice County:
Bridgewater, Northfield, Cannon, Wheeling, Walcott, or Richland.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner of agriculture must annually notify county assessors of the location
of each certified acre in the assessor's county.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Credit amount. new text end

new text begin The amount of the agricultural water quality credit is $5 per
certified acre.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Credit reimbursement. new text end

new text begin The county auditor must determine the tax reductions
allowed under this section within the county for each taxes payable year and must certify
that amount to the commissioner of revenue as part of the data required under section
270C.85, subdivision 2. Any prior year adjustments must also be certified as part of the
data required under section 270C.85, subdivision 2. The commissioner must review the
certifications for accuracy, and may make such changes as are deemed necessary, or return
the certification to the county auditor for correction. The credit under this section must be
used to proportionately reduce the net tax capacity based property tax payable to each local
taxing jurisdiction as provided in section 273.1393.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Payment. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of revenue shall reimburse each local taxing
jurisdiction, other than school districts, for the tax reductions granted under this section in
two equal installments on October 31 and December 26 of the taxes payable year for which
the reductions are granted, including in each payment the prior year adjustments certified
under section 270C.85, subdivision 2, for that taxes payable year.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner of revenue shall certify the total of the tax reductions granted
under this section for each taxes payable year within each school district to the commissioner
of education, and the commissioner of education must pay the reimbursement amounts to
each school district as provided in section 273.1392.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Appropriation. new text end

new text begin An amount sufficient to make the payments required by this
section to taxing jurisdictions other than school districts is annually appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of revenue. An amount sufficient to make the payments
required by this section for school districts is annually appropriated from the general fund
to the commissioner of education.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Annual report. new text end

new text begin No later than February 1 each year, the commissioner of
revenue, in consultation with the commissioner of agriculture, must report participation,
outcomes, and trends by county or township, and any corresponding recommendations, to
the legislative committees with jurisdiction over taxes and agriculture. Reported outcomes
must include, but are not limited to, the number of taxpayers and acres receiving a credit
under this section, the number of certified acres, the percent of total class 2a and 2b property
that is certified, and the total estimated reduction in nitrogen lost to the environment.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective beginning with taxes payable in 2025.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 273.1392, is amended to read:

273.1392 PAYMENT; SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

The amounts of bovine tuberculosis credit reimbursements under section 273.113;
conservation tax credits under section 273.119; disaster or emergency reimbursement under
sections 273.1231 to 273.1235; agricultural credits under sections 273.1384 deleted text begin and deleted text end new text begin , new text end 273.1387 new text begin ,
and 273.1388 new text end ; aids and credits under section 273.1398; enterprise zone property credit
payments under section 469.171; metropolitan agricultural preserve reduction under section
473H.10; and electric generation transition aid under section 477A.24 for school districts,
shall be certified to the Department of Education by the Department of Revenue. The
amounts so certified shall be paid according to section 127A.45, subdivisions 9, 10, and 13.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2025.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 273.1393, is amended to read:

273.1393 COMPUTATION OF NET PROPERTY TAXES.

Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, "net" property taxes are determined
by subtracting the credits in the order listed from the gross tax:

(1) disaster credit as provided in sections 273.1231 to 273.1235;

(2) powerline credit as provided in section 273.42;

(3) agricultural preserves credit as provided in section 473H.10;

(4) enterprise zone credit as provided in section 469.171;

(5) disparity reduction credit;

(6) conservation tax credit as provided in section 273.119;

(7) the school bond credit as provided in section 273.1387;

(8) agricultural credit as provided in section 273.1384;

(9) taconite homestead credit as provided in section 273.135;

(10) supplemental homestead credit as provided in section 273.1391; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(11) the bovine tuberculosis zone credit, as provided in section 273.113 deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (12) the agricultural water quality credit as provided in section 273.1388.
new text end

The combination of all property tax credits must not exceed the gross tax amount.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective beginning with taxes payable in 2025.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2023 Supplement, section 275.065, subdivision 3, is amended
to read:

Subd. 3.

Notice of proposed property taxes.

(a) The county auditor shall prepare and
the county treasurer shall deliver after November 10 and on or before November 24 each
year, by first class mail to each taxpayer at the address listed on the county's current year's
assessment roll, a notice of proposed property taxes. Upon written request by the taxpayer,
the treasurer may send the notice in electronic form or by electronic mail instead of on paper
or by ordinary mail.

(b) The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of the notice.

(c) The notice must inform taxpayers that it contains the amount of property taxes each
taxing authority proposes to collect for taxes payable the following year. In the case of a
town, or in the case of the state general tax, the final tax amount will be its proposed tax.
The notice must clearly state for each city that has a population over 500, county, school
district, regional library authority established under section 134.201, metropolitan taxing
districts as defined in paragraph (i), and fire protection and emergency medical services
special taxing districts established under section 144F.01, the time and place of a meeting
for each taxing authority in which the budget and levy will be discussed and public input
allowed, prior to the final budget and levy determination. The taxing authorities must provide
the county auditor with the information to be included in the notice on or before the time it
certifies its proposed levy under subdivision 1. The public must be allowed to speak at that
meeting, which must occur after November 24 and must not be held before 6:00 p.m. It
must provide a website address and a telephone number for the taxing authority that taxpayers
may call if they have questions related to the notice and an address where comments will
be received by mail, except that no notice required under this section shall be interpreted
as requiring the printing of a personal telephone number or address as the contact information
for a taxing authority. If a taxing authority does not maintain a website or public offices
where telephone calls can be received by the authority, the authority may inform the county
of the lack of a public website or telephone number and the county shall not list a website
or telephone number for that taxing authority.

(d) The notice must state for each parcel:

(1) the market value of the property as determined under section 273.11, and used for
computing property taxes payable in the following year and for taxes payable in the current
year as each appears in the records of the county assessor on November 1 of the current
year; and, in the case of residential property, whether the property is classified as homestead
or nonhomestead. The notice must clearly inform taxpayers of the years to which the market
values apply and that the values are final values;

(2) the items listed below, shown separately by county, city or town, and state general
tax, agricultural homestead credit under section 273.1384, school building bond agricultural
credit under section 273.1387, new text begin agricultural water quality credit under section 273.1388, new text end
voter approved school levy, other local school levy, and the sum of the special taxing
districts, and as a total of all taxing authorities:

(i) the actual tax for taxes payable in the current year; and

(ii) the proposed tax amount.

If the county levy under clause (2) includes an amount for a lake improvement district
as defined under sections 103B.501 to 103B.581, the amount attributable for that purpose
must be separately stated from the remaining county levy amount.

In the case of a town or the state general tax, the final tax shall also be its proposed tax
unless the town changes its levy at a special town meeting under section 365.52. If a school
district has certified under section 126C.17, subdivision 9, that a referendum will be held
in the school district at the November general election, the county auditor must note next
to the school district's proposed amount that a referendum is pending and that, if approved
by the voters, the tax amount may be higher than shown on the notice. In the case of the
city of Minneapolis, the levy for Minneapolis Park and Recreation shall be listed separately
from the remaining amount of the city's levy. In the case of the city of St. Paul, the levy for
the St. Paul Library Agency must be listed separately from the remaining amount of the
city's levy. In the case of Ramsey County, any amount levied under section 134.07 may be
listed separately from the remaining amount of the county's levy. In the case of a parcel
where tax increment or the fiscal disparities areawide tax under chapter 276A or 473F
applies, the proposed tax levy on the captured value or the proposed tax levy on the tax
capacity subject to the areawide tax must each be stated separately and not included in the
sum of the special taxing districts; and

(3) the increase or decrease between the total taxes payable in the current year and the
total proposed taxes, expressed as a percentage.

For purposes of this section, the amount of the tax on homesteads qualifying under the
senior citizens' property tax deferral program under chapter 290B is the total amount of
property tax before subtraction of the deferred property tax amount.

(e) The notice must clearly state that the proposed or final taxes do not include the
following:

(1) special assessments;

(2) levies approved by the voters after the date the proposed taxes are certified, including
bond referenda and school district levy referenda;

(3) a levy limit increase approved by the voters by the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November of the levy year as provided under section 275.73;

(4) amounts necessary to pay cleanup or other costs due to a natural disaster occurring
after the date the proposed taxes are certified;

(5) amounts necessary to pay tort judgments against the taxing authority that become
final after the date the proposed taxes are certified; and

(6) the contamination tax imposed on properties which received market value reductions
for contamination.

(f) Except as provided in subdivision 7, failure of the county auditor to prepare or the
county treasurer to deliver the notice as required in this section does not invalidate the
proposed or final tax levy or the taxes payable pursuant to the tax levy.

(g) If the notice the taxpayer receives under this section lists the property as
nonhomestead, and satisfactory documentation is provided to the county assessor by the
applicable deadline, and the property qualifies for the homestead classification in that
assessment year, the assessor shall reclassify the property to homestead for taxes payable
in the following year.

(h) In the case of class 4 residential property used as a residence for lease or rental
periods of 30 days or more, the taxpayer must either:

(1) mail or deliver a copy of the notice of proposed property taxes to each tenant, renter,
or lessee; or

(2) post a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the premises of the property.

The notice must be mailed or posted by the taxpayer by November 27 or within three
days of receipt of the notice, whichever is later. A taxpayer may notify the county treasurer
of the address of the taxpayer, agent, caretaker, or manager of the premises to which the
notice must be mailed in order to fulfill the requirements of this paragraph.

(i) For purposes of this subdivision and subdivision 6, "metropolitan special taxing
districts" means the following taxing districts in the seven-county metropolitan area that
levy a property tax for any of the specified purposes listed below:

(1) Metropolitan Council under section 473.132, 473.167, 473.249, 473.325, 473.446,
473.521, 473.547, or 473.834;

(2) Metropolitan Airports Commission under section 473.667, 473.671, or 473.672; and

(3) Metropolitan Mosquito Control Commission under section 473.711.

For purposes of this section, any levies made by the regional rail authorities in the county
of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington under chapter 398A
shall be included with the appropriate county's levy.

(j) The governing body of a county, city, or school district may, with the consent of the
county board, include supplemental information with the statement of proposed property
taxes about the impact of state aid increases or decreases on property tax increases or
decreases and on the level of services provided in the affected jurisdiction. This supplemental
information may include information for the following year, the current year, and for as
many consecutive preceding years as deemed appropriate by the governing body of the
county, city, or school district. It may include only information regarding:

(1) the impact of inflation as measured by the implicit price deflator for state and local
government purchases;

(2) population growth and decline;

(3) state or federal government action; and

(4) other financial factors that affect the level of property taxation and local services
that the governing body of the county, city, or school district may deem appropriate to
include.

The information may be presented using tables, written narrative, and graphic
representations and may contain instruction toward further sources of information or
opportunity for comment.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective beginning with taxes payable in 2025.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 276.04, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Contents of tax statements.

(a) The treasurer shall provide for the printing of
the tax statements. The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of the property
tax statement and its contents. The tax statement must not state or imply that property tax
credits are paid by the state of Minnesota. The statement must contain a tabulated statement
of the dollar amount due to each taxing authority and the amount of the state tax from the
parcel of real property for which a particular tax statement is prepared. The dollar amounts
attributable to the county, the state tax, the voter approved school tax, the other local school
tax, the township or municipality, and the total of the metropolitan special taxing districts
as defined in section 275.065, subdivision 3, paragraph (i), must be separately stated. The
amounts due all other special taxing districts, if any, may be aggregated except that any
levies made by the regional rail authorities in the county of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin,
Ramsey, Scott, or Washington under chapter 398A shall be listed on a separate line directly
under the appropriate county's levy. If the county levy under this paragraph includes an
amount for a lake improvement district as defined under sections 103B.501 to 103B.581,
the amount attributable for that purpose must be separately stated from the remaining county
levy amount. In the case of Ramsey County, if the county levy under this paragraph includes
an amount for public library service under section 134.07, the amount attributable for that
purpose may be separated from the remaining county levy amount. The amount of the tax
on homesteads qualifying under the senior citizens' property tax deferral program under
chapter 290B is the total amount of property tax before subtraction of the deferred property
tax amount. The amount of the tax on contamination value imposed under sections 270.91
to 270.98, if any, must also be separately stated. The dollar amounts, including the dollar
amount of any special assessments, may be rounded to the nearest even whole dollar. For
purposes of this section whole odd-numbered dollars may be adjusted to the next higher
even-numbered dollar. The amount of market value excluded under section 273.11,
subdivision 16, if any, must also be listed on the tax statement.

(b) The property tax statements for manufactured homes and sectional structures taxed
as personal property shall contain the same information that is required on the tax statements
for real property.

(c) Real and personal property tax statements must contain the following information
in the order given in this paragraph. The information must contain the current year tax
information in the right column with the corresponding information for the previous year
in a column on the left:

(1) the property's estimated market value under section 273.11, subdivision 1;

(2) the property's homestead market value exclusion under section 273.13, subdivision
35;

(3) the property's taxable market value under section 272.03, subdivision 15;

(4) the property's gross tax, before credits;

(5) for agricultural properties, the credits under sections 273.1384 deleted text begin and deleted text end new text begin , new text end 273.1387 new text begin , and
273.1388 new text end ;

(6) any credits received under sections 273.119; 273.1234 or 273.1235; 273.135;
273.1391; 273.1398, subdivision 4; 469.171; and 473H.10, except that the amount of credit
received under section 273.135 must be separately stated and identified as "taconite tax
relief"; and

(7) the net tax payable in the manner required in paragraph (a).

(d) If the county uses envelopes for mailing property tax statements and if the county
agrees, a taxing district may include a notice with the property tax statement notifying
taxpayers when the taxing district will begin its budget deliberations for the current year,
and encouraging taxpayers to attend the hearings. If the county allows notices to be included
in the envelope containing the property tax statement, and if more than one taxing district
relative to a given property decides to include a notice with the tax statement, the county
treasurer or auditor must coordinate the process and may combine the information on a
single announcement.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective beginning with taxes payable in 2025.
new text end