1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to local government; increasing the amount a 
  1.3             county or city may appropriate for the prevention of 
  1.4             cruelty to animals; providing that a property tax levy 
  1.5             to fund the appropriation is exempt from levy limits; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 343.11; 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 275.70, 
  1.8             subdivision 5. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  1.11  275.70, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 5.  [SPECIAL LEVIES.] "Special levies" means those 
  1.13  portions of ad valorem taxes levied by a local governmental unit 
  1.14  for the following purposes or in the following manner: 
  1.15     (1) to pay the costs of the principal and interest on 
  1.16  bonded indebtedness or to reimburse for the amount of liquor 
  1.17  store revenues used to pay the principal and interest due on 
  1.18  municipal liquor store bonds in the year preceding the year for 
  1.19  which the levy limit is calculated; 
  1.20     (2) to pay the costs of principal and interest on 
  1.21  certificates of indebtedness issued for any corporate purpose 
  1.22  except for the following: 
  1.23     (i) tax anticipation or aid anticipation certificates of 
  1.24  indebtedness; 
  1.25     (ii) certificates of indebtedness issued under sections 
  1.26  298.28 and 298.282; 
  1.27     (iii) certificates of indebtedness used to fund current 
  2.1   expenses or to pay the costs of extraordinary expenditures that 
  2.2   result from a public emergency; or 
  2.3      (iv) certificates of indebtedness used to fund an 
  2.4   insufficiency in tax receipts or an insufficiency in other 
  2.5   revenue sources; 
  2.6      (3) to provide for the bonded indebtedness portion of 
  2.7   payments made to another political subdivision of the state of 
  2.8   Minnesota; 
  2.9      (4) to fund payments made to the Minnesota State Armory 
  2.10  Building Commission under section 193.145, subdivision 2, to 
  2.11  retire the principal and interest on armory construction bonds; 
  2.12     (5) property taxes approved by voters which are levied 
  2.13  against the referendum market value as provided under section 
  2.14  275.61; 
  2.15     (6) to fund matching requirements needed to qualify for 
  2.16  federal or state grants or programs to the extent that either 
  2.17  (i) the matching requirement exceeds the matching requirement in 
  2.18  calendar year 2001, or (ii) it is a new matching requirement 
  2.19  that did not exist prior to 2002; 
  2.20     (7) to pay the expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred 
  2.21  in preparing for or repairing the effects of natural disaster 
  2.22  including the occurrence or threat of widespread or severe 
  2.23  damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from 
  2.24  natural causes, in accordance with standards formulated by the 
  2.25  Emergency Services Division of the state Department of Public 
  2.26  Safety, as allowed by the commissioner of revenue under section 
  2.27  275.74, subdivision 2; 
  2.28     (8) pay amounts required to correct an error in the levy 
  2.29  certified to the county auditor by a city or county in a levy 
  2.30  year, but only to the extent that when added to the preceding 
  2.31  year's levy it is not in excess of an applicable statutory, 
  2.32  special law or charter limitation, or the limitation imposed on 
  2.33  the governmental subdivision by sections 275.70 to 275.74 in the 
  2.34  preceding levy year; 
  2.35     (9) to pay an abatement under section 469.1815; 
  2.36     (10) to pay any costs attributable to increases in the 
  3.1   employer contribution rates under chapter 353 that are effective 
  3.2   after June 30, 2001; 
  3.3      (11) to pay the operating or maintenance costs of a county 
  3.4   jail as authorized in section 641.01 or 641.262, or of a 
  3.5   correctional facility as defined in section 241.021, subdivision 
  3.6   1, paragraph (f), to the extent that the county can demonstrate 
  3.7   to the commissioner of revenue that the amount has been included 
  3.8   in the county budget as a direct result of a rule, minimum 
  3.9   requirement, minimum standard, or directive of the Department of 
  3.10  Corrections, or to pay the operating or maintenance costs of a 
  3.11  regional jail as authorized in section 641.262.  For purposes of 
  3.12  this clause, a district court order is not a rule, minimum 
  3.13  requirement, minimum standard, or directive of the Department of 
  3.14  Corrections.  If the county utilizes this special levy, except 
  3.15  to pay operating or maintenance costs of a new regional jail 
  3.16  facility under sections 641.262 to 641.264 which will not 
  3.17  replace an existing jail facility, any amount levied by the 
  3.18  county in the previous levy year for the purposes specified 
  3.19  under this clause and included in the county's previous year's 
  3.20  levy limitation computed under section 275.71, shall be deducted 
  3.21  from the levy limit base under section 275.71, subdivision 2, 
  3.22  when determining the county's current year levy limitation.  The 
  3.23  county shall provide the necessary information to the 
  3.24  commissioner of revenue for making this determination; 
  3.25     (12) to pay for operation of a lake improvement district, 
  3.26  as authorized under section 103B.555.  If the county utilizes 
  3.27  this special levy, any amount levied by the county in the 
  3.28  previous levy year for the purposes specified under this clause 
  3.29  and included in the county's previous year's levy limitation 
  3.30  computed under section 275.71 shall be deducted from the levy 
  3.31  limit base under section 275.71, subdivision 2, when determining 
  3.32  the county's current year levy limitation.  The county shall 
  3.33  provide the necessary information to the commissioner of revenue 
  3.34  for making this determination; 
  3.35     (13) to repay a state or federal loan used to fund the 
  3.36  direct or indirect required spending by the local government due 
  4.1   to a state or federal transportation project or other state or 
  4.2   federal capital project.  This authority may only be used if the 
  4.3   project is not a local government initiative; 
  4.4      (14) to pay for court administration costs as required 
  4.5   under section 273.1398, subdivision 4b, less the (i) county's 
  4.6   share of transferred fines and fees collected by the district 
  4.7   courts in the county for calendar year 2001 and (ii) the aid 
  4.8   amount certified to be paid to the county in 2004 under section 
  4.9   273.1398, subdivision 4c; however, for taxes levied to pay for 
  4.10  these costs in the year in which the court financing is 
  4.11  transferred to the state, the amount under this clause is 
  4.12  limited to the amount of aid the county is certified to receive 
  4.13  under section 273.1398, subdivision 4a; and 
  4.14     (15) to fund a police or firefighters relief association as 
  4.15  required under section 69.77 to the extent that the required 
  4.16  amount exceeds the amount levied for this purpose in 2001; and 
  4.17     (16) to pay for the maintenance and support of a city or 
  4.18  county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals under 
  4.19  section 343.11.  If the city or county uses this special levy, 
  4.20  any amount levied by the city or county in the previous levy 
  4.21  year for the purposes specified in this clause and included in 
  4.22  the city's or county's previous year's levy limit computed under 
  4.23  section 275.71, must be deducted from the levy limit base under 
  4.24  section 275.71, subdivision 2, in determining the city's or 
  4.25  county's current year levy limit. 
  4.26     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for taxes 
  4.27  levied in 2004, payable in 2005, and thereafter. 
  4.28     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 343.11, is 
  4.29  amended to read: 
  4.30     343.11 [ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY, APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  4.31     Every county and district society for the prevention of 
  4.32  cruelty to animals may acquire, by purchase, gift, grant, or 
  4.33  devise, and hold, use, or convey, real estate and personal 
  4.34  property, and lease, mortgage, sell, or use the same in any 
  4.35  manner conducive to its interest, to the same extent as natural 
  4.36  persons.  The county board of any county, or the council of any 
  5.1   city, in which such societies exist, may, in its discretion, 
  5.2   appropriate for the maintenance and support of such societies in 
  5.3   the transaction of the work for which they are organized, any 
  5.4   sums of money not otherwise appropriated, not to exceed in any 
  5.5   one year the sum of $4,800 or the sum of 50 cents $1 per capita 
  5.6   based upon the county's or city's population as of the most 
  5.7   recent federal census, whichever is greater; provided, that no 
  5.8   part of the appropriation shall be expended for the payment of 
  5.9   the salary of any officer of the society. 
  5.10     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective January 1, 2005.