HF 3127

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to taxation; increasing class rates that 
  1.3             apply to real and personal property of electric 
  1.4             utilities; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 
  1.5             273.13, subdivision 24. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 273.13, 
  1.8   subdivision 24, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 24.  [CLASS 3.] (a) Commercial and industrial 
  1.10  property and utility real and personal property is class 3a.  
  1.11     (1) Except as otherwise provided, each parcel of 
  1.12  commercial, industrial, or utility real property has a class 
  1.13  rate of 1.5 percent of the first tier of market value, and 2.0 
  1.14  percent of the remaining market value, except that real and 
  1.15  personal property of an electric utility has a class rate of 2.0 
  1.16  percent of the first tier of market value, and 2.5 percent of 
  1.17  the remaining market value.  In the case of contiguous parcels 
  1.18  of property owned by the same person or entity, only the value 
  1.19  equal to the first-tier value of the contiguous parcels 
  1.20  qualifies for the reduced class rate, except that contiguous 
  1.21  parcels owned by the same person or entity shall be eligible for 
  1.22  the first-tier value class rate on each separate business 
  1.23  operated by the owner of the property, provided the business is 
  1.24  housed in a separate structure.  For the purposes of this 
  1.25  subdivision, the first tier means the first $150,000 of market 
  2.1   value.  Real property owned in fee by a utility for transmission 
  2.2   line right-of-way shall be classified at the class rate for the 
  2.3   higher tier that applies to electric utility property.  
  2.4      For purposes of this subdivision, parcels are considered to 
  2.5   be contiguous even if they are separated from each other by a 
  2.6   road, street, waterway, or other similar intervening type of 
  2.7   property.  Connections between parcels that consist of power 
  2.8   lines or pipelines do not cause the parcels to be contiguous.  
  2.9   Property owners who have contiguous parcels of property that 
  2.10  constitute separate businesses that may qualify for the 
  2.11  first-tier class rate shall notify the assessor by July 1, for 
  2.12  treatment beginning in the following taxes payable year.  
  2.13     (2) All personal property that is:  (i) part of an electric 
  2.14  generation, transmission, or distribution system; or (ii) part 
  2.15  of a pipeline system transporting or distributing water, gas, 
  2.16  crude oil, or petroleum products; and (iii) not described in 
  2.17  clause (3), and all railroad operating property has a the 
  2.18  applicable class rate as provided under clause (1) for the first 
  2.19  tier of market value and the remaining market value.  In the 
  2.20  case of multiple parcels in one county that are owned by one 
  2.21  person or entity, only one first tier amount is eligible for the 
  2.22  reduced rate.  
  2.23     (3) The entire market value of personal property that is:  
  2.24  (i) tools, implements, and machinery of an electric generation, 
  2.25  transmission, or distribution system; (ii) tools, implements, 
  2.26  and machinery of a pipeline system transporting or distributing 
  2.27  water, gas, crude oil, or petroleum products; or (iii) the mains 
  2.28  and pipes used in the distribution of steam or hot or chilled 
  2.29  water for heating or cooling buildings, has a the applicable 
  2.30  class rate as provided under clause (1) for the remaining market 
  2.31  value in excess of the first tier. 
  2.32     (b) Employment property defined in section 469.166, during 
  2.33  the period provided in section 469.170, shall constitute class 
  2.34  3b.  The class rates for class 3b property are determined under 
  2.35  paragraph (a). 
  2.36     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective for taxes 
  3.1   levied in 2005, payable in 2006, and thereafter, but only if the 
  3.2   Department of Revenue has adopted rules after December 31, 2004, 
  3.3   and before August 1, 2005, that prescribe a method of valuing 
  3.4   electric utility property, and the commissioner of revenue has 
  3.5   estimated that the statewide aggregate market value of electric 
  3.6   utility real and personal property will be reduced by ... 
  3.7   percent or more as a result of implementation of the rules.