1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to taxation; property; requiring the county
1.3 	auditor to notify certain property owners of
1.4 	delinquent taxes; proposing coding for new law in
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 280.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [280.44] NOTIFICATION TO HOMESTEAD PROPERTY
1.8 	OWNERS; TAX DELINQUENCY.
1.9 	In addition to other notices required under this chapter,
1.10 	the county auditor shall notify all taxpayers owning homestead
1.11 	property within the county whose real property taxes on that
1.12 	homestead are currently delinquent and also were delinquent in
1.13 	the preceding calendar year.  The notification must be mailed
1.14 	sometime between June 1 and August 1 in the year following the
1.15 	second year that property taxes were not paid.  The notification
1.16 	must contain a telephone number and an e-mail address for the
1.17 	county auditor's office to aid the taxpayer in contacting the
1.18 	county to discuss any questions relating to the tax
1.19 	delinquency.  The notification must contain a list of the
1.20 	various assistance programs and other options that might be
1.21 	available to the taxpayer to pay the delinquent taxes including,
1.22 	but not limited to, the senior citizens' property tax deferral
1.23 	under chapter 290B, partial property tax payments, and a
1.24 	confession of judgment under section 279.37.  The notice must
1.25 	inform the taxpayer of the state-paid property tax refund and
2.1 	the additional property tax refund under chapter 290A which may
2.2 	be available to the taxpayer once the delinquent taxes have been
2.3 	satisfied.  The notice must also state the number of years
2.4 	before the property will forfeit if the taxes are not paid or
2.5 	any installment plan initiated.  For purposes of this section,
2.6 	"homestead" property means property classified under section
2.7 	273.13, subdivision 22 or 23, paragraph (a).

2.8 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for property
2.9 	tax delinquencies beginning January 1, 2006, provided that for
2.10 	calendar year 2006, the county auditor shall notify the owners
2.11 	of each homestead property in the county that has been
2.12 	delinquent for two or more years.