Relating to public finance

ARTICLE 1 - PUBLIC FINANCE

Authorizing guaranteed investment contracts with domestic affiliates of authorized entities; authorizing special levies by storm sewer improvement districts; modifying the authorized use of the taconite environmental protection fund for local economic development and public works projects; increasing the limit on annual appropriations by counties or cities for the maintenance and support of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (animal humane societies); expanding the authority of counties and cities to issue capital notes relating to computer hardware and software and extending the term of the notes; extending the deadline for establishment by cities of special service districts without enactment of a special law; requiring the enactment of a special law for establishment of new housing improvement districts; authorizing city, county or town street or road improvements outside the jurisdiction of the city, county or town with the consent of the affected township or county, authorizing self reimbursement for the costs of the improvements after property incorporation through certain additional assessments; authorizing municipal gas agencies or utilities to enter into joint ventures to provide gas utility service; providing a temporary exception to competitive bidding requirements of housing and redevelopment authorities (HRA) for construction of certain public transit facilities financed with certain bond proceeds or federal subsidies and extending the terms for obligations sold to finance certain qualified housing development projects, modifying the definition of qualified housing development project; extending the terms of bonds issued for municipal industrial development purposes and of historic or heritage preservation property tax abatements; modifying certain debt reserve requirements under the metropolitan council housing bond credit enhancement program; authorizing metropolitan council issuance of obligations for capital expenditures prescribed in the regional transit master plan and transit capital improvement program, limit; limiting use by the metropolitan council of certain investment income; increasing the public facilities pool reserve requirement for projects financed by the western Lake Superior sanitary district and modifying a certain bond issuance notice requirement; expanding the definition of net debt to obligations to pay judgments; authorizing the issuance of capital improvement bonds for town hall or library improvements and modifying certain limits on issuance of the bonds; expanding the authority of cities, counties, towns and school districts to issue obligations for street reconstruction; authorizing cities with reduced local government aid distributions to increase the levy payable in the year of receipt of the reduced LGA amount; expanding a certain provision authorizing the payment of school district refunding bonds from taconite production tax revenues; removing the authority of members of the lakes area economic development authority to levy property taxes and designating the authority as a special taxing district; authorizing the city of Bemidji to extend the duration of the fairgrounds district economic development tax abatement; authorizing and providing for the town of White to issue general obligations to finance local improvements, requiring an agreement with the city of Biwabik; authorizing an increase in the annual property tax levy by the Sauk River watershed district for the general fund; authorizing and providing for the city of St. Paul to participate in the creation of and contract with a nonprofit organization for the management and operation of the RiverCentre complex; authorizing the commissioner of iron range resources and rehabilitation (IRRRB) to issue revenue bonds for grants to school districts located in the taconite relief or assistance areas for health, safety and maintenance improvements, limit; authorizing and providing for a pilot project in Crow Wing county for the creation by board resolution of a sewer district, specifying certain powers and a reporting requirement; requiring certain commissioner of revenue payments to the city of White Bear Lake and appropriating money to the commissioner for the payments; repealing the metropolitan council housing bond credit enhancement program and the prohibition on metropolitan council issuance of obligations for construction of light rail transit (LRT) in the Hiawatha corridor

ARTICLE 2 - TAX INCREMENT FINANCING

Eliminating the requirement to decertify tax increment financing districts or hazardous substance subdistricts established to pay the local match requirement under the contamination cleanup grant program; limiting the property tax exemption for job opportunity building zone (JOBZ) property improvements; modifying the property tax exemption period for border city development zone property, authorizing cities to limit the property tax exemption to a shorter period than the duration of the zone or to a
percentage of the property taxes payable or both; modifying certain TIF provisions; expanding the definitions of housing district and increment; clarifying the requirement for the inclusion of development program statements in TIF plans and requiring the filing of copies of the plans with the state auditor; defining fiscal and economic implications of the proposed tax increment financing district for TIF financing plan development purposes; modifying certain annual financial reporting requirements and certain requirements relating to excess increments; modifying certain provisions regulating housing districts; providing for the computation of certain deficit amounts for pooling purposes; expanding the authority to spend tax increments outside the district, limiting the expenditures for districts created within biotechnology and health sciences industry zones; regulating the increment transfers relating to the reduction in increments resulting from the elimination of the general education tax levy for certain purposes; modifying a certain requirement to add certain increases in net tax capacity to the original net tax capacity; expanding the authorized uses of bond proceeds; removing a certain duration limit for the Minneapolis Lake street project redevelopment TIF district; extending the duration of a certain TIF district in the city of Brooklyn Center; authorizing the city of Fairmont in Martin county and independent school district #2752, Fairmont area schools to abate property taxes for property located in a certain TIF district in the city, limit, authorizing local elected officials to obtain a financial interest in and benefit from the tax abatement under certain conditions; authorizing the city of Wabasha to extend the duration of a certain redevelopment TIF district and to use the proceeds of tax increment bonds issued before a certain date to pay the costs of acquiring and constructing a national eagle center; authorizing and providing for the city of Richfield to create a redevelopment TIF district and the city of Mounds View to create economic development districts subject to certain special rules and limits; requiring the commissioner of transportation (DOT) to convey to the city of Mounds View certain state land in Ramsey county previously acquired for highway construction; authorizing and providing for the St. Paul housing and redevelopment authority (HRA) to establish TIF subdistricts; extending the duration of a certain economic development TIF district in the city of Brooklyn Park; applying a certain property tax exemption provision relating to the treatment of property held for economic development purposes by certain smaller cities to property in the city of Fergus Falls; repealing the three year activity rule and certain developer repayment requirements
(Ch. 152, 2005)