Relating to the organization, operation and financing of state and local government, modifying certain tax provisions ARTICLE 1 EDUCATION FINANCEProviding for the funding of school districts entirely through state aid in lieu of local property tax levies; modifying the debt service equalization revenue and levy formulas and increasing the appropriation to the commissioner of children, families and learning for payment of debt service equalization aid; prohibiting the addition of new projects to facilities plans under the alternative facilities bonding and levy program after a certain date, eliminating the levy from the program, modifying the aid formula and increasing the appropriation for payment of the aid; requiring a reserved account to repay bonds, certificates or notes issued to purchase certain equipment or for certain capital projects; reducing the general education tax rate, providing for application to the adjusted school tax base in lieu of adjusted net tax capacity and removing the exclusion of transition and supplemental revenues from the levy; specifying certain commissioner state aid approval requirements; defining school tax base and providing for adjustment; establishing a task force on elementary and secondary education to recommend replacement revenue for funds currently generated by the operating referendum revenue and to propose an alternative source of funding, specifying membership requirements and duties, requiring a report to the legislature by a certain date; repealing certain levy provisions, certain aid formulas based on the levies and the education homestead and agricultural credits ARTICLE 2 SALES TAX REBATEProviding for a sales tax rebate payable in 2001 based on sales taxes paid by individuals in 1999 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 and defining income; requiring the payment of interest on rebates not paid by a certain date; prohibiting rebate adjustments based on changes to 1999 income tax returns after the date of rebate processing; 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 and subjecting the rebate to revenue recapture; taxpayer right to the rebate to expire after a certain date; providing for claims for unpaid rebates; granting the commissioner of revenue certain enforcement authority relating to forged or improperly endorsed checks and to overstated or erroneously issued rebates; authorizing the commissioner to take whatever action necessary to pay the rebates; authorizing payment by electronic funds transfer to certain individuals; setting the maximum total rebate amount, requiring certain commissioner adjustments; appropriating money to the commissioner for rebates administration purposes and to the state treasurer for the cost of clearing sales tax rebate checks through commercial banksARTICLE 3 STATE TAKEOVER OF COUNTY SERVICESProviding for state payment of trial court administrator and employee costs in the first, second, third, fourth, sixth and tenth judicial districts; providing for initial assignment of employee classifications to bargaining units by the state court administrator; requiring and providing for commissioner of revenue reimbursements to counties for certain child out of home placement costs and appropriating money to the commissioner of human services for the payments, specifying certain total payment limits; providing a homestead and agricultural credit aid (HACA) offset for certain court costs, specifying certain reduction requirements; specifying certain county temporary maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements; providing for temporary aid for court administration and certain mandated services costs for judicial districts not transferred to the state by a certain date and for transition aid to assist in the transition from property tax to state funding of administration costs; providing additional money for county criminal justice aid; providing for the transfer of fines, forfeited bail money and certain court fees and a schedule for the transfer of court services and positions to the state; requiring county payment of certain post-retirement benefit costs and provision of suitable facilities for court purposes; providing for transfer of certain employee property to the state; increasing the base appropriation to the supreme courtARTICLE 4 PROPERTY TAXESAuthorizing certain school districts to levy for swimming pool operating costs; authorizing and providing for counties, cities or towns to establish special taxing districts for emergency medical services (EMS), providing for expansion of and withdrawal from the districts and for dissolution; expanding the requirement for public utilities to accept and consider other proposals under the biomass mandate to a proposal for a new facility to satisfy a certain number of megawatts of the electrical generation requirements by a small business sponsored independent power producer facility to be located in the northern quarter of the state and using biomass residue wood, sawdust, bark, chipped wood or brush to generate electricity, qualifying the eligible facility for a personal property tax exemption; providing property tax exemptions for attached machinery and other personal property of certain poultry litter and other biomass electrical generation and waste tire cogeneration facilities under certain conditions and for certain personal property used to generate electricity from certain new generating plants or natural gas peaking storage facilities, providing a partial exemption for an increase in nameplate capacity, requirements; extending class 4c property to certain licensed child care provider facilities; increasing the city aid base for local government aid (LGA) purposes; providing payments in lieu of taxes for natural resources lands acquired by the department of transportation (DOT) to replace wetland losses caused by transportation projects; requiring and providing for commissioner of revenue reconveyance of certain tax-forfeited land in Dakota county to special school district 6, South St. Paul for no consideration under certain conditions; authorizing independent school district 319, Nashwauk-Keewatin to annually levy to finance the Nashwauk school community library and community service project, limit; authorizing and providing for property tax abatements on certain tornado damaged property in Yellow Medicine and Chippewa countiesARTICLE 5 INCOME TAXESProviding an income tax subtraction for military compensation received for active duty in the armed forces outside the state; expanding the dependent care income tax credit to employment related expenses for the care of certain older children for certain individuals; expanding the education credit to amounts paid for certain extracurricular activities and modifying certain limits ARTICLE 6 SALES TAXESExpanding the definition of farm machinery for sales tax exemption purposes; imposing the sales tax on retail sales of prefabricated homes, defining prefabricated home; exempting from the sales tax certain energy efficient products or appliances and materials, supplies and equipment used in the construction, improvement or expansion of certain agricultural processing facilities, of the Yellow Medicine county law enforcement and family service center, of certain facilities using poultry litter biomass or waste tires to generate electricity and of certain qualified low income housing projects; expanding exemptions from the sales tax on motor vehicles to vehicles using certain alternative fuels; extending the sales tax exemptions for certain biomass electric generating and agricultural processing facilities construction materials and supplies ARTICLE 7 HEALTH CARE TAXESEstablishing a reserve within the health care access fund to preserve and protect access to publicly funded basic health care services, providing for funding; repealing the MinnesotaCare provider gross earnings tax and the gross premium taxes imposed on health maintenance organizations (HMO), nonprofit health service plan corporations and community integrated service networks (CISN), requiring pass-through of the savings to consumers as reduced premium rates; requiring the commissioner of finance to deposit certain payments due under the terms of the tobacco settlement into and requiring the crediting of certain cigarette tax proceeds to the health care access fund ARTICLE 8 MINERALS TAXATIONRelating to the taconite production tax; modifying the definition of tax relief area for certain loan or equity investment equal match, taconite tax and property tax relief purposes; providing for school district recognition of taconite production tax aid; modifying the formula and payment dates for supplementary homestead property tax relief and specifying an iron range resources and rehabilitation board spending priority for programs and projects targeting relief to portions of the redefined area with the largest percentage of job and population losses directly attributable to the economic downturn in the taconite industry; modifying the distribution of taconite production tax proceeds to certain cities and towns; increasing the taconite production tax rate; appropriating money to the commissioner of children, families and learning for certain distributions to school districts; reducing the amount of tax allocated to St. Louis county for distribution for property tax relief; maintaining the amount to be paid to the northeast Minnesota economic protection trust and taconite economic development funds and increasing the amount to be paid to the taconite environmental fund; clarifying a certain provision providing for distribution of the remainder of the tax proceeds; providing for the deposit of certain delayed payments in the general fund; extending the restriction on the use of the corpus of the northeast Minnesota economic protection trust fund, eliminating producer loans and authorizing grants for pit or plant maintenance and repairs; modifying the definition of aggregate material and expanding the definition of county for production tax purposes, increasing the tax rate and modifying the allocation of proceeds; providing for state aid to cities, counties, townships, school districts, the taconite property tax relief fund, the IRRRB, the range association of municipalities and schools and the taconite environmental protection and northeast Minnesota economic protection trust funds, requiring commissioner of revenue distribution by a certain dateARTICLE 9 SUSTAINABLE FOREST INCENTIVE ACTModifying certain provisions under the auxiliary forest tax law, qualifying previously enrolled lands for the sustainable forest incentive program, providing for calculation of the tax difference; expanding the definition of refund under the revenue recapture act to sustainable forest tax payments; enacting the "Sustainable Forest Incentive Act" to encourage private forest landowner long term commitments to sustainable forest management, specifying property eligibility, application and certification requirements and providing for calculation of the incentive payment, requiring removal of property from the program for tax delinquency; repealing the tree growth tax law ARTICLE 10 MISCELLANOUSAuthorizing temporary waiver of state agency services fees in disaster or emergency areas with the approval of the governor; reducing the lawful gambling, pull tab and tipboard and combined receipts tax rates; exempting from solid waste management taxes construction debris generated from repair and demolition activities caused by disasters and extending the time limit for the filing certain financial reports by cities and towns located in presidentially declared disaster areas under certain conditions; appropriating money to the commissioner of revenue for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for taxpayer assistance services provided by volunteers to low income and disadvantaged residents (je)