SF 1652

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to taxation; providing that certain land that
qualifies for inclusion in a soils condition district
may be included in a redevelopment tax increment
financing district; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
section 469.174, subdivision 10.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 469.174,
subdivision 10, is amended to read:

Subd. 10.

Redevelopment district.

(a) "Redevelopment
district" means a type of tax increment financing district
consisting of a project, or portions of a project, within which
the authority finds by resolution that one or more of the
following conditions, reasonably distributed throughout the
district, exists:

(1) parcels consisting of 70 percent of the area of the
district are occupied by buildings, streets, utilities, paved or
gravel parking lots, or other similar structures and more than
50 percent of the buildings, not including outbuildings, are
structurally substandard to a degree requiring substantial
renovation or clearance;

(2) the property consists of vacant, unused, underused,
inappropriately used, or infrequently used railyards, rail
storage facilities, or excessive or vacated railroad
rights-of-way;

(3) tank facilities, or property whose immediately previous
use was for tank facilities, as defined in section 115C.02,
subdivision 15, if the tank facilities:

(i) have or had a capacity of more than 1,000,000 gallons;

(ii) are located adjacent to rail facilities; and

(iii) have been removed or are unused, underused,
inappropriately used, or infrequently used; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(4) a qualifying disaster area, as defined in subdivision
10b new text begin ; or
new text end

new text begin (5) parcels that would qualify for inclusion in a soils
condition district, as defined in subdivision 19, provided that
the inclusion of these parcels in a redevelopment district must
be approved by the board of commissioners of the county in which
the parcels are located new text end .

(b) For purposes of this subdivision, "structurally
substandard" shall mean containing defects in structural
elements or a combination of deficiencies in essential utilities
and facilities, light and ventilation, fire protection including
adequate egress, layout and condition of interior partitions, or
similar factors, which defects or deficiencies are of sufficient
total significance to justify substantial renovation or
clearance.

(c) A building is not structurally substandard if it is in
compliance with the building code applicable to new buildings or
could be modified to satisfy the building code at a cost of less
than 15 percent of the cost of constructing a new structure of
the same square footage and type on the site. The municipality
may find that a building is not disqualified as structurally
substandard under the preceding sentence on the basis of
reasonably available evidence, such as the size, type, and age
of the building, the average cost of plumbing, electrical, or
structural repairs, or other similar reliable evidence. The
municipality may not make such a determination without an
interior inspection of the property, but need not have an
independent, expert appraisal prepared of the cost of repair and
rehabilitation of the building. An interior inspection of the
property is not required, if the municipality finds that (1) the
municipality or authority is unable to gain access to the
property after using its best efforts to obtain permission from
the party that owns or controls the property; and (2) the
evidence otherwise supports a reasonable conclusion that the
building is structurally substandard. Items of evidence that
support such a conclusion include recent fire or police
inspections, on-site property tax appraisals or housing
inspections, exterior evidence of deterioration, or other
similar reliable evidence. Written documentation of the
findings and reasons why an interior inspection was not
conducted must be made and retained under section 469.175,
subdivision 3, clause (1). Failure of a building to be
disqualified under the provisions of this paragraph is a
necessary, but not a sufficient, condition to determining that
the building is substandard.

(d) A parcel is deemed to be occupied by a structurally
substandard building for purposes of the finding under paragraph
(a) if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) the parcel was occupied by a substandard building
within three years of the filing of the request for
certification of the parcel as part of the district with the
county auditor;

(2) the substandard building was demolished or removed by
the authority or the demolition or removal was financed by the
authority or was done by a developer under a development
agreement with the authority;

(3) the authority found by resolution before the demolition
or removal that the parcel was occupied by a structurally
substandard building and that after demolition and clearance the
authority intended to include the parcel within a district; and

(4) upon filing the request for certification of the tax
capacity of the parcel as part of a district, the authority
notifies the county auditor that the original tax capacity of
the parcel must be adjusted as provided by section 469.177,
subdivision 1, paragraph (f).

(e) For purposes of this subdivision, a parcel is not
occupied by buildings, streets, utilities, paved or gravel
parking lots, or other similar structures unless 15 percent of
the area of the parcel contains buildings, streets, utilities,
paved or gravel parking lots, or other similar structures.

(f) For districts consisting of two or more noncontiguous
areas, each area must qualify as a redevelopment district under
paragraph (a) to be included in the district, and the entire
area of the district must satisfy paragraph (a).

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for districts
for which certification is requested after June 30, 2005.
new text end