SF 1573

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to transportation; authorizing a local sales tax to fund transit services;
allocating motor vehicle sales tax proceeds; requiring a study of providing transit
service between the Twin Cities and regional centers in Minnesota; appropriating
money for the feasibility study; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, sections
297A.99, subdivision 1, by adding a subdivision; 297B.09, subdivision 1;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 297A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 297A.99, subdivision 1, is amended to
read:

Subdivision 1.

Authorization; scope.

(a) A political subdivision of this state may
impose a general sales tax if permitted by special law or if the political subdivision enacted
and imposed the tax before the effective date of section 477A.016 and its predecessor
provision new text begin or if the tax is allowed under subdivision 1a new text end .

(b) This section governs the imposition of a general sales tax by the political
subdivision. The provisions of this section preempt the provisions of any special law:

(1) enacted before June 2, 1997, or

(2) enacted on or after June 2, 1997, that does not explicitly exempt the special law
provision from this section's rules by reference.

(c) This section does not apply to or preempt a sales tax on motor vehicles or a
special excise tax on motor vehicles.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for local sales taxes for which the
authorizing referendum is held after June 30, 2007.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 297A.99, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin General authority; transit purposes. new text end

new text begin (a) Any city, county, or transit
special taxing district, located outside of the metropolitan area as defined in section
473.121, subdivision 2, or any combination of these political subdivisions acting under a
joint powers agreement, or the Metropolitan Council, may impose a local sales tax of up
to one-fourth of one percent without authorization under special law provided that:
new text end

new text begin (1) imposition of the tax is approved by the majority of the voters in the region in
which the tax will be imposed pursuant to subdivision 3, paragraph (a);
new text end

new text begin (2) the revenues must be used to provide transit services, and may be used to fund
capital, operations, and maintenance costs of providing that service; and
new text end

new text begin (3) all the conditions for adoption, use, administration, and termination of the tax
contained in this subdivision and subdivisions 4 to 12a are met.
new text end

new text begin (b) The governing body of the entity imposing the tax may, by ordinance, terminate
the tax at any time upon appropriate notice to the commissioner of revenue, as required
under subdivision 12.
new text end

new text begin (c) The combination of any tax imposed under this subdivision plus any other local
sales taxes authorized by special law may not exceed three-fourths of one percent in
any political subdivision unless the total local sales taxes imposed in the area already
exceeds one-half of one percent as of June 30, 1997, in which case the total combined tax
rate may not exceed the tax rate in effect as of June 30, 2007, by more than one-fourth
of one percent.
new text end

new text begin (d) A tax imposed under this subdivision by a border city, as defined in section
469.1731, shall not be effective until a local tax with an equivalent rate is imposed in an
adjacent political subdivision in the bordering state. During the period between the time
the tax would have first been imposed absent this paragraph, and when the tax is imposed
under this paragraph, the city shall receive a payment under section 3.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for local sales taxes for which the
authorizing referendum is held after June 30, 2007.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [297A.9905] BORDER CITY; PAYMENT IN LIEU OF LOCAL SALES
TAX; APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of revenue shall make annual payments to any city that has
received voter approval to impose a local sales tax for transit purposes under section
297A.99, subdivision 1a, for which imposition of the tax is delayed under paragraph (d) of
that subdivision. The payment shall equal the estimated amount that the tax would have
raised during the previous calendar year, or the portion of the previous calendar year
during which the tax could not be imposed. The commissioner shall estimate the amount
of foregone revenue based on a reasonable methodology which shall be made public
and consistently applied to all cities that qualify for payment under this section. The
commissioner shall certify the estimated payment amount by October 1 of the year prior to
the year in which the payment is made. All determinations by the commissioner are final.
new text end

new text begin (b) Payments under this subdivision shall be made with the July 20th payment of
other aids under section 477A.015. The amount required to make these payments is
annually appropriated to the commissioner from the general fund.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 297B.09, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Deposit of revenues.

(a) Money collected and received under this
chapter must be deposited as provided in this subdivision.

deleted text begin (b) From July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003, 32 percent of the money collected and
received must be deposited in the highway user tax distribution fund, 20.5 percent must be
deposited in the metropolitan area transit fund under section , and 1.25 percent
must be deposited in the greater Minnesota transit fund under section . The
remaining money must be deposited in the general fund.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (c) From July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2007, 30 percent of the money collected and
received must be deposited in the highway user tax distribution fund, 21.5 percent must be
deposited in the metropolitan area transit fund under section , 1.43 percent must be
deposited in the greater Minnesota transit fund under section , 0.65 percent must
be deposited in the county state-aid highway fund, and 0.17 percent must be deposited
in the municipal state-aid street fund. The remaining money must be deposited in the
general fund.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (d) On and after deleted text end new text begin (b) From new text end July 1, 2007, deleted text begin 32 deleted text end new text begin through June 30, 2008, 38.25 new text end percent deleted text begin of
the money collected and received deleted text end must be deposited in the highway user tax distribution
fund, deleted text begin 20.5 deleted text end new text begin 23.36 new text end percent must be deposited in the metropolitan area transit fund under
section 16A.88, and deleted text begin 1.25 deleted text end new text begin 2.14 new text end percent must be deposited in the greater Minnesota transit
fund under section 16A.88. The remaining money must be deposited in the general fund.

new text begin (c) From July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009, 44.25 percent must be deposited in the
highway user tax distribution fund, 26.64 percent must be deposited in the metropolitan
area transit fund under section 16A.88, and 2.86 percent must be deposited in the greater
Minnesota transit fund under section 16A.88. The remaining money must be deposited
in the general fund.
new text end

new text begin (d) From July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, 50.25 percent must be deposited in the
highway user tax distribution fund, 29.93 percent must be deposited in the metropolitan
area transit fund under section 16A.88, and 3.57 percent must be deposited in the greater
Minnesota transit fund under section 16A.88. The remaining money must be deposited
in the general fund.
new text end

new text begin (e) From July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011, 56.25 percent must be deposited in the
highway user tax distribution fund, 33.21 percent must be deposited in the metropolitan
area transit fund under section 16A.88, and 4.29 percent must be deposited in the greater
Minnesota transit fund under section 16A.88. The remaining money must be deposited
in the general fund.
new text end

new text begin (f) On and after July 1, 2011, 60 percent must be deposited in the highway user
tax distribution fund, 35 percent must be deposited in the metropolitan area transit fund
under section 16A.88, and five percent must be deposited in the greater Minnesota transit
fund under section 16A.88.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2007.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin STUDY OF TRANSIT SERVICE TO REGIONAL CENTERS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Appropriation. new text end

new text begin Of the amount appropriated to the commissioner of
transportation for fiscal year 2008 from federal transportation planning aid provided to
Minnesota under United States Code, title 49, sections 5303 to 5304, $500,000 is allocated
for the feasibility study required under this section, in accordance with the provisions of
federal law and any rules or regulations promulgated under federal law.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Study requirements. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of transportation shall conduct
a study to evaluate the feasibility of establishing express transit service between the Twin
Cities metropolitan area and each regional center in Minnesota. For purposes of this
section, "regional center" means the city of Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, or
Willmar.
new text end

new text begin (b) The study must include, but is not limited to:
new text end

new text begin (1) evaluation and analysis of current and future transit service needs between the
Twin Cities and each regional center;
new text end

new text begin (2) identification of transit provision options, including but not limited to commuter
rail and bus service;
new text end

new text begin (3) identification of estimated costs and revenues associated with each transit
provision option identified in clause (2), for each regional center; and
new text end

new text begin (4) analysis of regional transit provided in neighboring and other states.
new text end

new text begin (c) The study must also include an evaluation of the feasibility of extending the Red
Rock corridor transit way to include the cities of Red Wing and Winona.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Report. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall submit a report on the results of the study
to the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and house of representatives
committees and divisions with jurisdiction over transportation no later than January 14,
2008.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end