SF 2723

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/18/2010 03:20pm

A bill for an act
relating to taxation; providing a special levy for county aid reductions; modifying
the computation of the adjusted levy limit base; amending Minnesota Statutes
2008, section 275.71, subdivision 4; Minnesota Statutes 2009 Supplement,
section 275.70, subdivision 5.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2009 Supplement, section 275.70, subdivision 5, is
amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Special levies.

"Special levies" means those portions of ad valorem taxes
levied by a local governmental unit for the following purposes or in the following manner:

(1) to pay the costs of the principal and interest on bonded indebtedness or to
reimburse for the amount of liquor store revenues used to pay the principal and interest
due on municipal liquor store bonds in the year preceding the year for which the levy
limit is calculated;

(2) to pay the costs of principal and interest on certificates of indebtedness issued for
any corporate purpose except for the following:

(i) tax anticipation or aid anticipation certificates of indebtedness;

(ii) certificates of indebtedness issued under sections 298.28 and 298.282;

(iii) certificates of indebtedness used to fund current expenses or to pay the costs of
extraordinary expenditures that result from a public emergency; or

(iv) certificates of indebtedness used to fund an insufficiency in tax receipts or
an insufficiency in other revenue sources;

(3) to provide for the bonded indebtedness portion of payments made to another
political subdivision of the state of Minnesota;

(4) to fund payments made to the Minnesota State Armory Building Commission
under section 193.145, subdivision 2, to retire the principal and interest on armory
construction bonds;

(5) property taxes approved by voters which are levied against the referendum
market value as provided under section 275.61;

(6) to fund matching requirements needed to qualify for federal or state grants or
programs to the extent that either (i) the matching requirement exceeds the matching
requirement in calendar year 2001, or (ii) it is a new matching requirement that did not
exist prior to 2002;

(7) to pay the expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred in preparing for or
repairing the effects of natural disaster including the occurrence or threat of widespread
or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from natural causes, in
accordance with standards formulated by the Emergency Services Division of the state
Department of Public Safety, as allowed by the commissioner of revenue under section
275.74, subdivision 2;

(8) pay amounts required to correct an error in the levy certified to the county
auditor by a city or county in a levy year, but only to the extent that when added to the
preceding year's levy it is not in excess of an applicable statutory, special law or charter
limitation, or the limitation imposed on the governmental subdivision by sections 275.70
to 275.74 in the preceding levy year;

(9) to pay an abatement under section 469.1815;

(10) to pay any costs attributable to increases in the employer contribution rates
under chapter 353, or locally administered pension plans, that are effective after June
30, 2001;

(11) to pay the operating or maintenance costs of a county jail as authorized in
section 641.01 or 641.262, or of a correctional facility as defined in section 241.021,
subdivision 1, paragraph (f), to the extent that the county can demonstrate to the
commissioner of revenue that the amount has been included in the county budget as
a direct result of a rule, minimum requirement, minimum standard, or directive of the
Department of Corrections, or to pay the operating or maintenance costs of a regional jail
as authorized in section 641.262. For purposes of this clause, a district court order is
not a rule, minimum requirement, minimum standard, or directive of the Department of
Corrections. If the county utilizes this special levy, except to pay operating or maintenance
costs of a new regional jail facility under sections 641.262 to 641.264 which will not
replace an existing jail facility, any amount levied by the county in the previous levy year
for the purposes specified under this clause and included in the county's previous year's
levy limitation computed under section 275.71, shall be deducted from the levy limit
base under section 275.71, subdivision 2, when determining the county's current year
levy limitation. The county shall provide the necessary information to the commissioner
of revenue for making this determination;

(12) to pay for operation of a lake improvement district, as authorized under section
103B.555. If the county utilizes this special levy, any amount levied by the county in the
previous levy year for the purposes specified under this clause and included in the county's
previous year's levy limitation computed under section 275.71 shall be deducted from
the levy limit base under section 275.71, subdivision 2, when determining the county's
current year levy limitation. The county shall provide the necessary information to the
commissioner of revenue for making this determination;

(13) to repay a state or federal loan used to fund the direct or indirect required
spending by the local government due to a state or federal transportation project or other
state or federal capital project. This authority may only be used if the project is not a
local government initiative;

(14) to pay for court administration costs as required under section 273.1398,
subdivision 4b, less the (i) county's share of transferred fines and fees collected by the
district courts in the county for calendar year 2001 and (ii) the aid amount certified to be
paid to the county in 2004 under section 273.1398, subdivision 4c; however, for taxes
levied to pay for these costs in the year in which the court financing is transferred to the
state, the amount under this clause is limited to the amount of aid the county is certified to
receive under section 273.1398, subdivision 4a;

(15) to fund a police or firefighters relief association as required under section 69.77
to the extent that the required amount exceeds the amount levied for this purpose in 2001;

(16) for purposes of a storm sewer improvement district under section 444.20;

(17) to pay for the maintenance and support of a city or county society for the
prevention of cruelty to animals under section 343.11, but not to exceed in any year
$4,800 or the sum of $1 per capita based on the county's or city's population as of the most
recent federal census, whichever is greater. If the city or county uses this special levy, any
amount levied by the city or county in the previous levy year for the purposes specified
in this clause and included in the city's or county's previous year's levy limit computed
under section 275.71, must be deducted from the levy limit base under section 275.71,
subdivision 2, in determining the city's or county's current year levy limit;

(18) for counties, to pay for the increase in their share of health and human service
costs caused by reductions in federal health and human services grants effective after
September 30, 2007;

(19) for a city, for the costs reasonably and necessarily incurred for securing,
maintaining, or demolishing foreclosed or abandoned residential properties, as allowed by
the commissioner of revenue under section 275.74, subdivision 2. A city must have either
(i) a foreclosure rate of at least 1.4 percent in 2007, or (ii) a foreclosure rate in 2007 in
the city or in a zip code area of the city that is at least 50 percent higher than the average
foreclosure rate in the metropolitan area, as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2,
to use this special levy. For purposes of this paragraph, "foreclosure rate" means the
number of foreclosures, as indicated by sheriff sales records, divided by the number of
households in the city in 2007;

(20) for a city, for the unreimbursed costs of redeployed traffic-control agents and
lost traffic citation revenue due to the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge, as certified
to the Federal Highway Administration;

(21) to pay costs attributable to wages and benefits for sheriff, police, and fire
personnel. If a local governmental unit did not use this special levy in the previous year its
levy limit base under section 275.71 shall be reduced by the amount equal to the amount it
levied for the purposes specified in this clause in the previous year;

(22) an amount equal to any reductions in the certified aids or credits payable
under sections 477A.011 to 477A.014, and section 273.1384, due to unallotment under
section 16A.152. The amount of the levy allowed under this clause is equal to the amount
unallotted in the calendar year in which the tax is levied unless the unallotment amount is
not known by September 1 of the levy year, and the local government has not adjusted its
levy under section 275.065, subdivision 6, or 275.07, subdivision 6, in which case the
unallotment amount may be levied in the following year;

(23) to pay for the difference between one-half of the costs of confining sex offenders
undergoing the civil commitment process and any state payments for this purpose pursuant
to section 253B.185, subdivision 5;

(24) for a county to pay the costs of the first year of maintaining and operating a new
facility or new expansion, either of which contains courts, corrections, dispatch, criminal
investigation labs, or other public safety facilities and for which all or a portion of the
funding for the site acquisition, building design, site preparation, construction, and related
equipment was issued or authorized prior to the imposition of levy limits in 2008. The
levy limit base shall then be increased by an amount equal to the new facility's first full
year's operating costs as described in this clause; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(25) for the estimated amount of reduction to credits under section 273.1384 for
credits payable in the year in which the levy is payable deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (26) for a county, the reduction in any state aids payable to the county in 2010 or
2011 for taxes payable in 2011 as the result of a law enacted in 2010 that modifies the
general assistance medical care program.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for taxes levied in 2010, payable
in 2011 only.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 275.71, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Adjusted levy limit base.

For taxes levied in 2008 through 2010, the
adjusted levy limit base is equal to the levy limit base computed under subdivision 2
or section 275.72, multiplied by:

(1) one plus the lesser of new text begin (i) new text end 3.9 percent new text begin , new text end or new text begin (ii) the greater of ... percent, or new text end the
percentage deleted text begin growth deleted text end new text begin increase new text end in the implicit price deflator;

(2) one plus a percentage equal to 50 percent of the percentage increase in the number
of households, if any, for the most recent 12-month period for which data is available; and

(3) one plus a percentage equal to 50 percent of the percentage increase in the
taxable market value of the jurisdiction due to new construction of class 3 property, as
defined in section 273.13, subdivision 4, except for state-assessed utility and railroad
property, for the most recent year for which data is available.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for taxes levied in 2010, payable
in 2011 only.
new text end