1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to taxation; allowing county local sales taxes, eliminating certain existing 
1.3 	local sales taxes; adjusting county program aid; modifying levy limits;amending 
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2008, sections 275.70, subdivision 3; 275.71, subdivisions 
1.5 	2, 4, 5; 297A.99, subdivision 1; 477A.0124, by adding a subdivision; 477A.03, 
1.6 	subdivision 2b; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.7 	297A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 477A.0124, subdivisions 3, 
1.8 	4, 5; Laws 2008, chapter 366, article 7, section 18.
1.9 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.10 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 275.70, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
1.11 		Subd. 3.Local governmental unit. "Local governmental unit" means a county, or a 
1.12 	statutory or home rule charter city with a population greater than 2,500.

1.13 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for taxes levied in calendar year 
1.14 	2009, payable in 2010.

1.15 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 275.71, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.16 		Subd. 2.Levy limit base. (a) The levy limit base for a local governmental unit for 
1.17 	taxes levied in 2008 is its levy aid base from the previous year, subject to any adjustments 
1.18 	under section 275.72. For taxes levied in 2009 and 2010, the levy limit base for a local 
1.19 	governmental unit is its adjusted levy limit base in the previous year, subject to any 
1.20 	adjustments under section 275.72.

1.21 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for taxes levied in calendar year 
1.22 	2009, payable in 2010.

1.23 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 275.71, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
2.1 		Subd. 4.Adjusted levy limit base.  For taxes levied in 2008 through 2010 and 2009, 
2.2 	the adjusted levy limit base is equal to the levy limit base computed under subdivision 2 
2.3 	or section 275.72, multiplied by:
2.4 	(1) one plus the lesser of 3.9 percent or the percentage growth in the implicit price 
2.5 	deflator;
2.6 	(2) one plus a percentage equal to 50 percent of the percentage increase in the number 
2.7 	of households, if any, for the most recent 12-month period for which data is available; and
2.8 	(3) one plus a percentage equal to 50 percent of the percentage increase in the 
2.9 	taxable market value of the jurisdiction due to new construction of class 3 property, as 
2.10 	defined in section 273.13, subdivision 4, except for state-assessed utility and railroad 
2.11 	property, for the most recent year for which data is available.

2.12 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for taxes levied in calendar year 
2.13 	2009, payable in 2010.

2.14 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 275.71, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
2.15 		Subd. 5.Property tax levy limit. For taxes levied in 2008 through 2010 2009, the 
2.16 	property tax levy limit for a local governmental unit is equal to its adjusted levy limit 
2.17 	base determined under subdivision 4 plus any additional levy authorized under section 
2.18 	275.73, which is levied against net tax capacity, reduced by the sum of (i) the total amount 
2.19 	of aids and reimbursements that the local governmental unit is certified to receive under 
2.20 	sections 477A.011 to 477A.014, (ii) the amount of aid reduction under section 477A.0124, 
2.21 	subdivision (6), paragraph (c), (iii) taconite aids under sections 298.28 and 298.282
2.22 	including any aid which was required to be placed in a special fund for expenditure in the 
2.23 	next succeeding year, (iii) (iv) estimated payments to the local governmental unit under 
2.24 	section 272.029, adjusted for any error in estimation in the preceding year, and (iv) (v)
2.25 	aids under section 477A.16. 

2.26 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for taxes levied in calendar year 
2.27 	2009, payable in 2010.

2.28 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 297A.99, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.29 		Subdivision 1. Authorization; scope. (a) A political subdivision of this state may 
2.30 	impose a general sales tax (1) under section 297A.992, (2) under section 297A.993, (3) 
2.31 	under section 297A.994, or (4) if permitted by special law enacted prior to May 20, 2008, 
2.32 	or (4) (5) if the political subdivision enacted and imposed the tax before January 1, 1982, 
2.33 	and its predecessor provision. 
3.1 	(b) This section governs the imposition of a general sales tax by the political 
3.2 	subdivision. The provisions of this section preempt the provisions of any special law: 
3.3 	(1) enacted before June 2, 1997, or 
3.4 	(2) enacted on or after June 2, 1997, that does not explicitly exempt the special law 
3.5 	provision from this section's rules by reference. 
3.6 	(c) This section does not apply to or preempt a sales tax on motor vehicles or a 
3.7 	special excise tax on motor vehicles.
3.8 	(d) Until after May 31, 2010, a political subdivision may not advertise, promote, 
3.9 	expend funds, or hold a referendum to support imposing a local option sales tax unless 
3.10 	it is for extension of an existing tax or the tax was authorized by a special law enacted 
3.11 	prior to May 20, 2008.

3.12 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.13 	Sec. 6. [297A.994] COUNTY LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX.
3.14 		Subdivision 1.Authorization; rates. Notwithstanding section 297A.99, 
3.15 	subdivisions 2, 3, and 5, or section 477A.016, or any other law, a county board may, by 
3.16 	resolution, impose a general sales tax of one-half of one percent on retail sales and uses 
3.17 	taxable under this chapter and chapter 297B.
3.18 		Subd. 2.Application of election requirement. (a) Imposition of the tax under this 
3.19 	section is not subject to the requirements of section 297A.99, subdivision 3.
3.20 	(b) Before imposing the tax under this section, the county must publish a notice of 
3.21 	its intention to impose the tax and the date and time of a hearing to obtain public comment 
3.22 	on the matter. The notice must be published in the official newspaper of the county, or 
3.23 	in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice must be published at 
3.24 	least 14 days before the date of the hearing, but not more than 28 days. Following the 
3.25 	public hearing the county board may determine to take no further action, or may adopt a 
3.26 	resolution imposing the tax.
3.27 	(c) A county may impose the tax only upon obtaining the approval of the majority 
3.28 	of voters voting on the question of imposing the tax, if a petition requesting a vote on 
3.29 	imposition of the tax is signed by voters equal to the greater of (1) 300, or (2) five percent 
3.30 	of the votes cast in the county at the last general election is filed with the county auditor 
3.31 	within 30 days after the public hearing. The commissioner of revenue shall prepare a 
3.32 	suggested form of the question to be presented at the election.
3.33 		Subd. 3.Use of revenues. Revenues from the tax imposed under this section 
3.34 	must first be used to fund obligations under section 297A.9945. Remaining revenues 
3.35 	are deposited in the county general fund.
4.1 		Subd. 4.Administration, collection, and enforcement. The administration, 
4.2 	collection, and enforcement of the provisions in section 297A.99, subdivisions 4, and 6 to 
4.3 	12, apply to a tax imposed under this section.
4.4 		Subd. 5.Termination. A county may terminate a tax imposed under this section 
4.5 	upon resolution of the county board and notification to the commissioner of revenue, if 
4.6 	all obligations under section 297A.9945 have been paid.

4.7 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.8 	Sec. 7. [297A.9945] EFFECT ON EXISTING LOCAL SALES TAXES; 
4.9 	SATISFACTION OF PREEXISTING OBLIGATIONS.
4.10 		Subdivision 1.Preemption of preexisting local sales taxes. (a) Notwithstanding 
4.11 	section 297A.99 or any other law or local ordinance to the contrary, each general local 
4.12 	sales and use taxes in a county or a part of a county is preempted on the day that a 
4.13 	county local sales tax under section 297A.994 takes effect, except the following taxes 
4.14 	are not preempted:
4.15 	(1) a local tax imposed under section 297A.992 or 297A.993; and
4.16 	(2) a local sales tax authorized by special law in a city of the first class.
4.17 	(b) A local sales tax that is imposed by a city located in two or more counties is 
4.18 	preempted if one or more counties in which the city is located impose the county tax. A 
4.19 	replacement tax must be imposed under subdivision 6 in any portion of the city located in 
4.20 	a county that has not imposed the tax under section 297A.994.
4.21 		Subd. 2.County payment to cities; foregone sales tax revenue. (a) If a local 
4.22 	sales tax imposed in a city located partially or totally within a county is preempted under 
4.23 	subdivision 1, the county shall pay a portion of its local sales tax revenues, as provided 
4.24 	under subdivision 4 or 5, to the city to fund obligations allowed under the law authorizing 
4.25 	the city tax. The county must make these payments to the city within five business days 
4.26 	after it receives the revenues from the commissioner.
4.27 	(b) If the local sales tax was imposed under a joint powers agreement in cities 
4.28 	located in more than one county, the share of the obligation to be funded by the county 
4.29 	must be determined under subdivision 5.
4.30 	(c) The requirement to make these payments ceases on the earliest of the following:
4.31 	(1) the date on which the city tax was required to expire under the special law 
4.32 	authorizing it;
4.33 	(2) when the city has received sufficient revenues from its tax and from payments 
4.34 	under this section to pay in full or to defease debt obligations issued by the city under the 
5.1 	law authorizing the city sales tax and to pay any additional spending obligations allowed 
5.2 	under the special law and not funded by the issuance of debt obligations; or 
5.3 	(3) the city becomes a city of the first class and imposes a city sales tax.
5.4 		Subd. 3.Dedication of tax to fund county projects. If a county imposed local 
5.5 	sales tax is preempted under subdivision 1, the revenues from the tax imposed under 
5.6 	section 297A.994 are pledged first to pay and secure the bond obligations secured by and 
5.7 	to be paid with the revenues from the preempted county sales tax. 
5.8 		Subd. 4.Calculation of forgone revenue in cities located entirely within a 
5.9 	county. For purposes of subdivision 2, the forgone revenue to be paid to the city located 
5.10 	entirely in a county imposing a tax under section 297A.994 is calculated as follows:
5.11 	(1) in the first 12 months after the tax is preempted, the county shall make quarterly 
5.12 	payments to a city entirely located within the county equal to the amount that the city 
5.13 	received from the commissioner of revenue from the preempted tax in the corresponding 
5.14 	quarter in the previous year, multiplied by a percentage equal to the percentage change in 
5.15 	total state sales tax revenue in the previous quarter compared to the total state sales tax 
5.16 	revenue for the fifth preceding quarter; and
5.17 	(2) in subsequent years, the county shall make quarterly payments to the city equal 
5.18 	to the payment made in the corresponding quarter in the previous year, multiplied by the 
5.19 	ratio of the total quarterly remittance to the county in the current year compared to the 
5.20 	total quarterly remittance to the county in the previous year.
5.21 		Subd. 5.Calculation of forgone revenue in cities located partially within a 
5.22 	county. (a) For purposes of subdivision 2, the forgone revenue to be paid to the city 
5.23 	located entirely in a county imposing a tax under section 297A.994 is calculated as 
5.24 	provided in this subdivision.
5.25 	(b) The commissioner of revenue shall determine the percentage of the city's local 
5.26 	sales tax revenue attributable to transactions located in the county. The commissioner 
5.27 	may consult with the county and the city to determine a reasonable percentage, or the 
5.28 	commissioner may set the percentage equal to the percentage of the city's market value 
5.29 	for the most recently available assessment year of class 3 property, except utility real and 
5.30 	personal property located in the county. The sum of the percentage of a city's local sales 
5.31 	tax revenue attributable to each county in which the city is located must equal 100 percent. 
5.32 	The determination of the commissioner is final.
5.33 	(c) In the first 12 months after the tax is preempted, the county shall make quarterly 
5.34 	payments to a city partially located within the county equal to the amount that the city 
5.35 	received from the commissioner from the preempted tax in the corresponding quarter in 
5.36 	the previous year, multiplied by (1) a percentage equal to one plus the percentage change 
6.1 	in total state sales tax revenue in the previous quarter compared to the total state sales tax 
6.2 	revenue for the fifth preceding quarter, and (2) one plus the percentage calculated in 
6.3 	paragraph (b).
6.4 	(d) In subsequent years, the county shall make quarterly payments to the city equal 
6.5 	to the payment made in the corresponding quarter in the previous year multiplied by the 
6.6 	ratio of the total quarterly remittance to the county in the current year compared to the 
6.7 	total quarterly remittance to the county in the previous year. 
6.8 	(e) A county's share of a city's obligations from the special law authorizing the city's 
6.9 	sales tax is equal to the total obligation under the special law multiplied by one plus the 
6.10 	percentage determined under paragraph (b).
6.11 		Subd. 6.Establishment of special sales tax districts within certain cities. (a) 
6.12 	For any city located in two or more counties, if at least one county imposes a county 
6.13 	sales tax under subdivision 1, and at least one county does not impose a county sales tax, 
6.14 	a special sales tax district is established in the portion of the city that is not subject to 
6.15 	a county sales tax.
6.16 	(b) The governing body of the city is the governing body of the special taxing district 
6.17 	and the special taxing district shall impose a replacement local sales tax by resolution 
6.18 	to take effect upon the preemption of the city's sales tax under subdivision 1. The 
6.19 	replacement tax must be imposed at the same rate as the city tax it replaces. Revenues 
6.20 	from the replacement tax are pledged to and may only be used for the purposes permitted 
6.21 	by law for the city sales tax, which it replaces. The authority to impose this tax expires 
6.22 	upon the city's receipt of sufficient revenues to pay the obligations to which the city sales 
6.23 	tax was pledged and other spending permitted by the law authorizing imposition of the 
6.24 	city sales tax from the sum of the following:
6.25 	(1) the city sales tax;
6.26 	(2) county payments of foregone sales tax revenues under this section; and
6.27 	(3) the special taxing district sales tax.

6.28 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

6.29 	Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 477A.0124, is amended by adding a 
6.30 	subdivision to read:
6.31 		Subd. 6.County program aid. (a) For calendar year 2010 and thereafter, a county's 
6.32 	program aid under this section is equal to (1) its county program aid amount certified for 
6.33 	aids payable in 2009 under this section, minus (2) an amount determined under paragraph 
6.34 	(b) or (c). A county's program aid shall not be less than zero.
7.1 	(b) For a county that does not impose a tax under section 297A.994, the amount 
7.2 	subtracted under paragraph (a) is equal to 3.58 percent of the county's 2009 levy plus aid 
7.3 	revenue base. The "2009 levy plus aid revenue base" for a county is equal to the sum of 
7.4 	the county's certified property tax levy for taxes payable in 2009 plus the amount the 
7.5 	county was certified to receive in county program aid in 2009 under this section and 
7.6 	the amount the county was certified to receive in taconite aids in 2009 under sections 
7.7 	298.28 and 292.282, including any aid that was required to be placed in a special fund for 
7.8 	expenditure in the next succeeding year.
7.9 	(c) For a county that imposes a tax under section 297A.994, the amount subtracted 
7.10 	under paragraph (a) is equal to (1) 50 percent of its net sales tax revenue for the preceding 
7.11 	12-month period in excess of $7 per capita, plus (2) 25 percent of its net sales tax revenue 
7.12 	for the preceding 12-month period in excess of $17 per capita.
7.13 	(d) For purposes of this subdivision, "net sales tax revenue for the preceding 
7.14 	12-month period" means the sales tax revenue for the county for the 12-month period 
7.15 	ending July 1 of the year in which the aid under this section is certified minus its estimated 
7.16 	existing obligations under section 297A.9945 for the year in which the aid is paid. For 
7.17 	the first two years in which the aid is offset under this paragraph, the commissioner of 
7.18 	revenue shall estimate the offset based on available data regarding sales tax collections in 
7.19 	the county. Beginning with the third year in which the aid is offset under this paragraph, 
7.20 	the offset will be based on actual sales tax collections in the county in the 12-month period 
7.21 	ending July 1 of the year in which the aid is certified.

7.22 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for aids payable in calendar year 
7.23 	2010 and thereafter.

7.24 	Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 477A.03, subdivision 2b, is amended to read:
7.25 		Subd. 2b.Counties. (a) For aids payable in 2009 2010 and thereafter, in addition 
7.26 	to the total aid payable under section 477A.0124, subdivision 3, is $111,500,000 minus 
7.27 	one-half of the total aid amount determined under section 477A.0124, subdivision 5, 
7.28 	paragraph (b), subject to adjustment in subdivision 5. Each calendar year, 477A.0124, 
7.29 	 $500,000 shall be retained by is appropriated to the commissioner of revenue to make 
7.30 	reimbursements to the commissioner of finance for payments made under section 611.27, 
7.31 	$207,000 is appropriated by the commissioner of revenue to make reimbursements 
7.32 	to the commissioner of finance for the preparation of local impact notes, and $7,000 is 
7.33 	appropriated to the commissioner of revenue to reimburse the commissioner of education 
7.34 	for the preparation of local impact notes for school districts. For calendar year 2004, 
7.35 	the amount shall be in addition to the payments authorized under section 477A.0124, 
8.1 	subdivision 1. For calendar year 2005 and subsequent years, the amount shall be deducted 
8.2 	from the appropriation under this paragraph. The reimbursements shall be to defray the 
8.3 	additional costs associated with court-ordered counsel under section 611.27. Any retained
8.4 	appropriated amounts not used for reimbursement in a year shall be included in the next 
8.5 	distribution of county need aid that is certified to the county auditors for the purpose 
8.6 	of property tax reduction for the next taxes payable year. under this subdivision shall 
8.7 	be returned to the general fund.
8.8 	(b) For aids payable in 2009 and thereafter, the total aid under section 477A.0124, 
8.9 	subdivision 4, is $116,132,923 minus one-half of the total aid amount determined under 
8.10 	section 477A.0124, subdivision 5, paragraph (b), subject to adjustment in subdivision 
8.11 	5. The commissioner of finance shall bill the commissioner of revenue for the cost of 
8.12 	preparation of local impact notes as required by section 3.987, not to exceed $207,000 in 
8.13 	fiscal year 2004 and thereafter. The commissioner of education shall bill the commissioner 
8.14 	of revenue for the cost of preparation of local impact notes for school districts as required 
8.15 	by section 3.987, not to exceed $7,000 in fiscal year 2004 and thereafter. The commissioner 
8.16 	of revenue shall deduct the amounts billed under this paragraph from the appropriation 
8.17 	under this paragraph. The amounts deducted are appropriated to the commissioner of 
8.18 	finance and the commissioner of education for the preparation of local impact notes.

8.19 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for aids payable in calendar year 
8.20 	2010 and thereafter.

8.21 	Sec. 10.  REPEALER.
 8.22 	(a) Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 477A.0124, subdivisions 3, 4, and 5, are 
8.23 	repealed.
8.24 	(b) Laws 2008, chapter 366, article 7, section 18, is repealed.

8.25 	EFFECTIVE DATE. Paragraph (a) is effective for aids payable in calendar year 
8.26 	2010 and thereafter. Paragraph (b) is effective the day following final enactment.