Relating to the financing of state and local government ARTICLE 1 2000 SALES TAX REBATEProviding a sales tax rebate payable in 2000 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, defining income and providing for payment by the commissioner of revenue, requiring certain adjustments; requiring rebates not made by a certain date to bear interest; 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; taxpayer right to the rebate to expire after a certain date; subjecting the rebate to revenue recapture; specifying a total rebate limit; granting the commissioner certain enforcement authority relating to forged or improperly endorsed checks and for overstated or erroneously issued rebates; authorizing the commissioner to take whatever action necessary to pay rebates; authorizing payment by electronic funds transfer to certain individuals; appropriating money to the commissioner for the rebates ARTICLE 2 AGRICULTURAL ASSISTANCE Extending the deadline for filing for the 1999 agricultural assistance program and clarifying the definition of livestock production facility for retroactive eligibility purposes; authorizing and providing for agricultural assistance payments by the commissioner of agriculture to certain farm operators in certain declared disaster counties to be based on the acreage of the farm operation; specifying certain application requirements and a payment limit; imposing penalties for fraudulent claims appropriating money to the commissioner for the 2000 payments ARTICLE 3 1999 SALES TAX REBATEExpanding eligibility for the 1999 sales tax rebate to part time residents and certain other individuals; extending certain filing deadlines; imposing interest on certain rebates; providing for the receipt of rebates by estates of deceased individuals after closing of the probate estates; authorizing taxpayers not receiving or receiving incorrectly computed rebates to file claims with the commissioner of revenue; authorizing the commissioner to issue orders of assessment for overstated or erroneously issued rebate checks; exempting the authorized additional rebates from the total 1999 rebate limit; appropriating money to the commissioner for the rebates ARTICLE 4 INCOME AND FRANCHISE TAXES Requiring certain paid tax preparers to file prepared individual income tax returns electronically; clarifying the requirement for employers to remit certain withholding taxes electronically and the minimum liability for corporations to pay estimated taxes; exempting individual income and corporate franchise taxes from the underpayment penalty under certain conditions; providing a carryforward for the income tax subtraction for certain retirement contributions, modifying the subtraction for health insurance premiums and providing a subtraction for the federal small ethanol producer credit for individuals and corporations; clarifying the treatment of the corporate franchise tax minimum fee as a tax for federal income tax deduction purposes; authorizing corporations to claim the remaining amount of accelerated cost recovery system (ACRS) depreciation for assets placed in service between certain tax years; including mobile property under property subject to income and franchise taxes and eliminating deposits received from customers by financial institutions from the definition of state business; reducing the individual income tax rates and adjusting and providing for inflation adjustments of the brackets; providing a nonresident credit for taxes paid to the state of domicile under certain limited conditions; providing an employer income tax credit for the cost of transit passes provided to employees; increasing the working family credit, including amounts appropriated to the commissioner of human services from the federal temporary assistance for needy families block grant funds in the appropriation to pay working family credit refunds and appropriating TANF money to the commissioner of human services for the credit increase, specifying certain calculation requirements of the commissioners of revenue and human services; modifying the inflation protection requirements for long term care insurance policies for income tax credit purposes and allowing the credit on a per beneficiary basis; expanding the definition of earned income for marriage penalty credit determination purposes and adjusting the credit to reflect the proposed changes in the income tax rates; reducing the alternative minimum tax; modifying the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) and the assignment to the state of nonbusiness income for nonresidents; reducing certain nonwage withholding rates and expanding the withholding exemption for nonresidents; reducing the enterprise zone credit rate; requiring the department of revenue to examine alternatives to requiring taxpayers to attach a copy of federal income tax returns in filing state income tax returns, requiring consultation with the tax information sample data coordinating committee and specifying certain study requirements, requiring a report to the legislature and the commissioner of finance; granting the commissioner of revenue certain temporary powers for pilot studies relating to tax payment and return filing and requiring the commissioner to study the availability of taxpayer assistance services and to report on the study and on implementation of an electronic income tax checkoff to the legislature by certain dates ARTICLE 5 PROPERTY TAXES Requiring annual appraisal of airline company flight property by the commissioner of revenue for assessment purposes and providing an airflight property tax lien; extending the time period for certain smaller local government units to hold property for later resale for economic development purposes; exempting certain personal property of simple cycle combustion turbine electric generation peaking facilities exceeding certain megawatts of installed capacity from the property tax; limiting the information required on certificates of real estate value (CRV); expanding green acres treatment of noncontiguous agricultural land; providing for homestead treatment of certain real property held by trustees under certain conditions; expanding the definition of relative to grandson or granddaughter for agricultural property homestead treatment eligibility purposes and extending agricultural homestead treatment to joint farm ventures and limited liability companies, to property actively farmed by sons or daughters of the owner living off site, to shareholders of family farm corporations, joint farm ventures, limited liability companies or partnerships under certain conditions and to certain property used for noncommercial storage or drying of agricultural crops; exempting certain storage sheds, decks and similar improvements constructed on site for travel trailers from the property tax; expanding or clarifying commercial industrial property eligible for the first tier value classification rate and defining qualifying entity for transit zone property classification eligibility purposes; reducing the property tax classification rate for leased or privately owned noncommercial aircraft storage hangars under certain conditions; increasing the education agricultural credit, treating agricultural homestead market value over a certain amount as agricultural nonhomestead for credit purposes; requiring the commissioner of revenue to assess wind energy conversion system property; requiring and providing for appeal of utility company property valuation or classification against the commissioner in tax or district court; adding the middle Mississippi River watershed management organization to the list of special taxing districts; clarifying the notice of overpayment application requirement; requiring and providing for counties to pay refunds of mistakenly billed taxes, authorizing appeal of denied claims; expanding eligibility for the senior citizens property tax deferral program relating to debt against the property, requiring commissioner payment to counties for taxes due and payable, modifying the provision requiring termination from the program relating to death and expanding the total deferred amount upon program termination to property tax penalties and special assessments; extending the authority of Dakota county to impose certain administrative penalties relating to water resources and shoreline protection; authorizing county and city special assessments for the purchase, installation or replacement of signs, posts and markers relating to operation of enhanced telephone service; requiring city or town notices to property owners of public hearings relating to local improvements to include a statement of the availability at the hearing of a reasonable estimate of the impact of the assessment, requiring availability of the estimate and a description of the assessment calculation method; exempting certain housing or housing development projects owned by certain tribally recognized housing entities from real and personal property taxes; eliminating the authority for the town of Silver to elect to partially join the Moose Lake fire protection district and authorizing and providing for the district to issue certificates of indebtedness to purchase certain capital equipment; authorizing and providing for the Eveleth Gilbert joint recreation board to levy a tax on property in the territory of independent school district 2154, Eveleth Gilbert, requiring agreement of the town of Fayal and the cities of Eveleth and Gilbert; requiring the commissioner of revenue in cooperation with the Minnesota forest resources council to study the taxation of forest land and report to the legislature by a certain date; transferring the balance of the property tax reform account to the general fund; repealing certain provisions providing for the recovery of unpaid flight property taxes, the separate classification of substandard residential rental property and a certain obsolete low income housing transition class rate provision ARTICLE 6 LEVY LIMITS AND AIDS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT Requiring the reduction of payments in lieu of taxes to counties or towns for public hunting areas, game refuges and goose management croplands by the general payments in lieu of taxes to the counties or towns for natural resources lands and providing for allocation of the payments; permanently increasing homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) payments to counties for state assumption of district court costs, exception; authorizing county special property tax levies for regional jail operating or maintenance costs and for repayment of state or federal loans for state or federal capital projects; excluding the deduction for certain mining tax distributions from the calculation of levy limits; permanently increasing the city aid base for certain smaller cities and the appropriation for the payment of LGA to cities by the amount necessary to fold in local performance aid; extending the low income apartment aid program; providing for inflation adjustment of payments in lieu of taxes on natural resources lands; correcting the formula and clarifying the effective date for the hospital district tax levy in the cities of Cook and Orr and St. Louis and Koochiching counties; authorizing the capitol region watershed district managers to levy an ad valorem property tax exceeding the levy limits for the administrative fund; providing additional aid to Lincoln county as reimbursement for certain lawsuit settlement costs, authorizing the county to pay a portion of the aid to Lake Benton township as reimbursement for certain lawsuit settlement losses; providing additional LGA payments to the city of St. Cloud and St. Augusta township (city of Ventura) for certain legal costs; authorizing Lake of the Woods and Koochiching counties to expend proceeds of property taxes levied on property in unorganized townships for roads and bridges in any township; expanding the definition of capital improvement under the county capital improvement bonding law to include the St. Louis county heritage and arts center ARTICLE 7 MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX Limiting the registration tax on passenger automobiles after the initial registration period and modifying the allocation of motor vehicle sales tax (MVET) proceeds to the highway user tax distribution and general funds; transferring money from the general fund to the highway user tax distribution fund to replace revenue lost due to the tax change ARTICLE 8 - SALES AND USE TAXES Modifying the effective date for newly mandated sales tax electronic funds transfers; expanding the penalty for misuse of sales tax exemption certificates to evade the tax to purchases of taxable services; reducing the accelerated payment of June sales tax liability percentage; expanding the definition of agricultural production to maple syrup harvesting, the definition of farm machinery to trees and shrubs and equipment used for maple syrup harvesting for sales tax exemption qualification purposes; establishing the process to apply for refund of sales taxes paid on materials and equipment used in constructing agricultural processing facilities; exempting from the sales tax certain aircraft used outside the state, base blocks used in metalcasting, state agency libraries, the leasing of motor vehicles to nonprofit groups under certain conditions, lawn care and related services used in the maintenance of cemetery grounds, certain patent, trademark and copyright drawings and documents, ski area machinery and equipment, feed for poultry raised for human consumption and materials and equipment used in the construction of certain pork and beef processing facilities; clarifying the sales tax exemptions for metropolitan council transit buses; expanding the exemption for materials used to make residential property handicapped accessible to certain nonprofit groups; expanding motor vehicle sales tax exemptions; limiting local sales taxes on motor vehicles and providing for a phase-out of the tax, authorizing local excise taxes on motor vehicles as a replacement tax; authorizing and providing for the commissioner of revenue to enter into discussions with states relating to the development of a multistate system for sales and use tax collection and administration, requiring a report on the project to the legislature by a certain date ARTICLE 9 HEALTH CARE TAXESExtending the insurance premium tax exemption for health maintenance organizations (HMOs), community integrated service networks (CISNs) and nonprofit health service plan corporations, imposing the tax on the organizations at a later date at a reduced percentage; excluding certain services from the definition of patient services for gross revenues reporting requirement exemption purposes; exempting payments received under the federal employees health benefits act (FEHBA) from the MinnesotaCare tax; clarifying the requirement for payment of all provider tax refunds including refunds due to the research credit from the health care access fund ARTICLE 10 SPECIAL TAXES Expanding county annual SCORE report content requirements; clarifying the definition of amendment for mortgage registry tax purposes; reducing the lawful gambling, pull tab and tipboard and combined receipts tax rates; providing a licensed organization gambling tax credit for certain raffles; modifying the definitions of consumer, retailer and stamp and defining invoice and unlicensed seller for cigarette and tobacco tax purposes; authorizing the commissioner of revenue to authorize the use of other than heat applied stamps; eliminating the accelerated June cigarette, tobacco and liquor taxes payment liability; modifying certain retailer and subjobber purchase invoices content and preservation requirements; expanding the definition of contraband for cigarette tax purposes and requiring a certain district court decision in seizure challenge cases; repealing the provision requiring the commissioner of revenue to annually examine the accounts of railroads and other corporations subject to the gross earnings tax ARTICLE 11 LOCAL DEVELOPMENT Expanding the definition of qualified housing district for state tax increment financing aid reduction determination purposes; modifying the authority of cities to establish housing improvement areas; expanding the definition of redevelopment district under tax increment financing provisions to property with certain tank facilities adjacent to rail facilities; clarifying the definition of housing district relating to developments meeting the requirements for spending increments on low and moderate income housing; clarifying the definition of administrative expenses, excluding from the definition amounts used to pay other financial obligations used to finance physical development or relocation benefits; modifying the definition of tourism facility relating to the prohibition on the use of tax increments for social and recreational activities and clarifying the counties eligible to use economic development districts for tourism projects; extending the time limit for counties to submit proposed road improvements to the municipality for inclusion in the TIF plan and clarifying the authority of county boards to require TIF authorities to pay the cost of county road improvements; requiring authorities to notify the county auditor and school district clerk in lieu of the county and school district boards of proposed TIF plans and certain fiscal and economic impact information, requiring the auditor and clerk to provide copies to board members; authorizing county commissioners to waive the advance notice requirement relating to proposed housing or redevelopment districts; eliminating the authority of municipalities to approve TIF plans by failure to act on the plans; modifying certain information reporting or publication requirements; modifying the duration limits for economic development districts; authorizing the spending of increments on qualifying low income housing located outside the project area; modifying the method for enforcement of housing district income limits; authorizing an increase in pooling percentage points for increments used for low income housing developments, specifying certain expenditure qualification requirements; eliminating the adjustment to original net tax capacity for economic development districts; clarifying the authority of taxpayers to sue for damages for violations involving the collection of tax increments; providing for the repayment of increments received after the duration limit; expanding the property tax abatement authority of local government units; defining increments for TIF grant program purposes; applying a certain provision relating to parcels not includable in tax increment financing districts to a certain TIF district in the city of Brooklyn Park; authorizing the city of Fountain to extend the duration of a certain TIF district in the city to correct an error in calculation of the increment after division of a parcel in the district; exempting certain TIF districts in the cities of Mendota Heights and Winona from certain pooling restrictions; authorizing and providing for the St. Paul housing and redevelopment authority (HRA) to establish a housing TIF district for both rental and owner occupied housing; appropriating money to the commissioner of trade and economic development (DTED) for redevelopment grants to the city of Richfield; transferring a certain amount of money from the general fund to the Minnesota minerals 21st century fund, requiring entities controlling infrastructure financed by the transfer to make the infrastructure available to other businesses or public authorities at the cost of operation and maintenance; repealing certain provisions providing for mined underground space development ARTICLE 12 - FEDERAL UPDATE Updating certain state income tax provisions to changes in the internal revenue code (IRC) relating to the federal miscellaneous trade and technical corrections act of 1999 and the ticket to work and work incentives improvement act of 1999; updating the definition of internal revenue code for estate tax purposesARTICLE 13 MISCELLANEOUS Expanding the compromise authority of the attorney general to fees, surcharges and assessments; authorizing the commissioner of finance to issue duplicate refunds for lost or destroyed refunds without an affidavit from the commissioner of revenue under certain conditions; exempting the commissioner of revenue from the requirement to release tax liens under certain conditions; expanding the exemption from the motor vehicle registration tax for vehicles owned by commercial driving schools to vehicles owned by employees of the schools and used exclusively for driver training; restricting the reduction of debt under the federal offset program to the amount actually received by the state; modifying the definition of date of assessment for tax administration purposes; expanding the definition of claimant agency under the revenue recapture act to municipal ambulance services; setoff collection notice by the commissioner under the act to serve as the legal notice to the spouse of the person owing court fines, fees, surcharges or restitution; eliminating the possibility of double collection of the setoff fee; clarifying certain setoff notice requirements, requiring the notice to include an explanation of the right of the spouse not owing the debt to request repayment of the joint portion; making optional a certain requirement for the commissioner to make state tax determinations, corrections and assessments; extending the time limit for payment of certain penalties without accruing interest; expanding certain references to inspection fees to all fees under certain petroleum tax provisions; modifying the definition of implicit price deflator for taconite production tax purposes; providing for the distribution of casino tax revenues in Itasca and Cass counties; requiring the commissioner of finance to transfer a certain amount of the workers compensation assigned risk plan surplus to the general fund; specifying certain amendment codification instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing a certain obsolete rule (Ch. 490, 2000)