1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the public facilities authority; changing 
  1.3             a wastewater treatment funding formula; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 446A.072, subdivision 
  1.5             4. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 446A.072, 
  1.8   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 4.  [FUNDING LEVEL.] (a) The authority shall provide 
  1.10  supplemental assistance for essential project component costs as 
  1.11  certified by the commissioner of the pollution control agency 
  1.12  under section 116.182, subdivision 4.  
  1.13     (b) A municipality may not receive more than $4,000,000 
  1.14  under this section unless specifically approved by law. 
  1.15     (c) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance for 
  1.16  up to one-half of the eligible grant funding level determined by 
  1.17  the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development 
  1.18  funding for projects listed on the agency's project priority 
  1.19  list, in priority order.  For municipalities that are not 
  1.20  eligible for United States Department of Agriculture Rural 
  1.21  Development funding for wastewater, the authority shall provide 
  1.22  supplemental assistance for:  (1) essential project component 
  1.23  costs calculated by first determining the amount needed to 
  1.24  reduce a municipality's annual residential sewer costs to 1.4 
  1.25  percent of the municipality's median household income or $25 per 
  2.1   month per household, whichever is greater, and then multiplying 
  2.2   that amount by 80 percent to determine the actual award amount 
  2.3   to supplement loans under section 446A.07; and (2) up to 50 
  2.4   percent of the incremental costs specifically identified by the 
  2.5   agency as being attributable to more stringent wastewater 
  2.6   standards required to protect outstanding resource value waters 
  2.7   or outstanding international resource value waters. 
  2.8      (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), in the event that a 
  2.9   municipality's monthly residential sewer service charges average 
  2.10  above $50, the authority will provide 90 percent of the grant 
  2.11  amount needed to reduce the average monthly sewer service charge 
  2.12  to $50, provided the project is ranked in the top 50 percentile 
  2.13  of the agency's intended use plan. 
  2.14     (e) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b), (c), and (d), a 
  2.15  municipality with an annual median household income of $40,000 
  2.16  or greater shall not be eligible for a grant, except for 
  2.17  incremental costs specifically identified by the agency as being 
  2.18  attributable to more stringent wastewater standards required to 
  2.19  protect outstanding resource value waters or outstanding 
  2.20  international resource value waters. 
  2.21     (f) The authority shall provide supplemental assistance to 
  2.22  a municipality that would not otherwise qualify for supplemental 
  2.23  assistance if: 
  2.24     (1) the municipality voluntarily accepts a sewer connection 
  2.25  from another governmental unit to serve residential, industrial, 
  2.26  or commercial developments that were completed before March 1, 
  2.27  1996, or are on lots whose plats were recorded before that date; 
  2.28  and 
  2.29     (2) fees charged by the municipality for the connection 
  2.30  must take into account state and federal grants used by the 
  2.31  municipality for the construction of the treatment plant. 
  2.32  The amount of supplemental assistance under this paragraph must 
  2.33  be sufficient to reduce debt service payments under section 
  2.34  446A.07 to an extent equivalent to a zero percent loan in an 
  2.35  amount up to the other governmental unit's project costs 
  2.36  necessary for connection.  Eligibility for supplemental 
  3.1   assistance under this paragraph ends three years after the 
  3.2   agency certifies that the connection has met the operational 
  3.3   performance standards established by the agency.