SF 2746

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to taxation; reducing passenger automobile 
  1.3             registration tax; proposing an amendment to the 
  1.4             Minnesota Constitution, article XIV, section 9, and 
  1.5             dedicating the net proceeds of the sales tax on motor 
  1.6             vehicles to the highway user tax distribution fund; 
  1.7             clarifying and changing obsolete, archaic, or 
  1.8             redundant statutory language; amending Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes 1998, sections 168.013, subdivision 1a; and 
  1.10            297B.09. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 168.013, 
  1.13  subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 1a.  [PASSENGER AUTOMOBILE; HEARSE.] (a) On passenger 
  1.15  automobiles as defined in section 168.011, subdivision 7, and 
  1.16  hearses, except as otherwise provided, the tax shall be is $10 
  1.17  plus an additional tax equal to 1.25 0.625 percent of the base 
  1.18  value, subject to a total minimum tax of $17.50.  
  1.19     (b) Subject to the classification provisions herein in this 
  1.20  subdivision, "base value" means the manufacturer's suggested 
  1.21  retail price of the vehicle, including destination charge, using 
  1.22  list price information published by the manufacturer or 
  1.23  determined by the registrar if no suggested retail price exists, 
  1.24  and shall.  Base value does not include the cost of each 
  1.25  accessory or item of optional equipment separately added to the 
  1.26  vehicle and the suggested retail price. 
  1.27     (c) If the manufacturer's list price information contains a 
  1.28  single vehicle identification number followed by various 
  2.1   descriptions and suggested retail prices, the registrar shall 
  2.2   select from those listings only the lowest price for determining 
  2.3   base value. 
  2.4      (d) If unable to determine the base value because the 
  2.5   vehicle is specially constructed, or for due to any other 
  2.6   reason, the registrar may establish such the value upon the cost 
  2.7   price to the purchaser or owner as evidenced by a certificate of 
  2.8   cost but not including Minnesota sales or use tax or any local 
  2.9   sales or other local tax. 
  2.10     (e) The registrar shall classify every vehicle in its 
  2.11  proper base value class as follows: 
  2.12                        FROM                   TO
  2.13                        $  0                $199.99
  2.14                         200                 399.99
  2.15  and thereafter, consisting of a series of classes successively 
  2.16  set in brackets having a spread of $200 consisting of such, with 
  2.17  that number of classes as will required to permit classification 
  2.18  of all vehicles. 
  2.19     (f) The base value for purposes of this section shall be is 
  2.20  the middle point between the extremes of its class. 
  2.21     (g) The registrar shall establish the base value, when new, 
  2.22  of every passenger automobile and hearse registered prior to the 
  2.23  effective date of Extra Session Laws 1971, chapter 31, using 
  2.24  list price information published by the manufacturer or any 
  2.25  nationally recognized firm or association compiling such data 
  2.26  for the automotive industry.  If unable to ascertain the base 
  2.27  value of any registered vehicle in the foregoing this manner, 
  2.28  the registrar may use any other available source or method.  The 
  2.29  tax on all previously registered vehicles shall must be computed 
  2.30  upon the base value thus determined taking into account the 
  2.31  depreciation provisions of paragraph (h). 
  2.32     (h) Except as provided in paragraph (i), The annual 
  2.33  additional tax computed upon the base value as provided herein 
  2.34  of a passenger automobile or hearse, during the first and second 
  2.35  years of its vehicle life shall be is computed upon 100 percent 
  2.36  of the base value; for the third and fourth years, 90 percent of 
  3.1   such that value; for the fifth and sixth years, 75 percent 
  3.2   of such that value; for the seventh year, 60 percent of such 
  3.3   that value; for the eighth year, 40 percent of such that value; 
  3.4   for the ninth year, 30 percent of such that value; for the tenth 
  3.5   year, ten percent of such that value; and, for the 11th and each 
  3.6   succeeding year, the sum of $25 $7.50.  
  3.7      In no event shall The annual additional tax must not be 
  3.8   less than $25 $7.50.  
  3.9      (i) The annual additional tax under paragraph (h) on a 
  3.10  motor vehicle on which the first annual tax was paid before 
  3.11  January 1, 1990, must not exceed the tax that was paid on that 
  3.12  vehicle the year before. 
  3.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 297B.09, is 
  3.14  amended to read: 
  3.15     297B.09 [ALLOCATION OF REVENUE.] 
  3.16     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL FUND SHARE.] (a) Money collected 
  3.17  and received under this chapter must be deposited in the state 
  3.18  treasury and credited to the general highway user tax 
  3.19  distribution fund.  The amounts collected and received shall be 
  3.20  credited as provided in this subdivision, and transferred from 
  3.21  the general fund on July 15 and February 15 of each fiscal 
  3.22  year.  The commissioner of finance must make each transfer based 
  3.23  upon the actual receipts of the preceding six calendar months 
  3.24  and include the interest earned during that six-month period.  
  3.25  The commissioner of finance may establish a quarterly or other 
  3.26  schedule providing for more frequent payments to the transit 
  3.27  assistance fund if the commissioner determines it is necessary 
  3.28  or desirable to provide for the cash flow needs of the 
  3.29  recipients of money from the transit assistance fund.  
  3.30     (b) Twenty-five percent of the money collected and received 
  3.31  under this chapter after June 30, 1990, and before July 1, 1991, 
  3.32  must be transferred to the highway user tax distribution fund 
  3.33  and the transit assistance fund for apportionment as follows:  
  3.34  75 percent must be transferred to the highway user tax 
  3.35  distribution fund for apportionment in the same manner and for 
  3.36  the same purposes as other money in that fund, and the remaining 
  4.1   25 percent of the money must be transferred to the transit 
  4.2   assistance fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of 
  4.3   transportation for transit assistance within the state and to 
  4.4   the metropolitan council.  
  4.5      (c) The distributions under this subdivision to the highway 
  4.6   user tax distribution fund until June 30, 1991, and to the trunk 
  4.7   highway fund thereafter, must be reduced by the amount necessary 
  4.8   to fund the appropriation under section 41A.09, subdivision 1.  
  4.9   For the fiscal years ending June 30, 1988, and June 30, 1989, 
  4.10  the commissioner of finance, before making the transfers 
  4.11  required on July 15 and January 15 of each year, shall estimate 
  4.12  the amount required to fund the appropriation under section 
  4.13  41A.09, subdivision 1, for the six-month period for which the 
  4.14  transfer is being made.  The commissioner shall then reduce the 
  4.15  amount transferred to the highway user tax distribution fund by 
  4.16  the amount of that estimate.  The commissioner shall reduce the 
  4.17  estimate for any six-month period by the amount by which the 
  4.18  estimate for the previous six-month period exceeded the amount 
  4.19  needed to fund the appropriation under section 41A.09, 
  4.20  subdivision 1, for that previous six-month period.  If at any 
  4.21  time during a six-month period in those fiscal years the amount 
  4.22  of reduction in the transfer to the highway user tax 
  4.23  distribution fund is insufficient to fund the appropriation 
  4.24  under section 41A.09, subdivision 1, for that period, the 
  4.25  commissioner shall transfer to the general fund from the highway 
  4.26  user tax distribution fund an additional amount sufficient to 
  4.27  fund the appropriation for that period, but the additional 
  4.28  amount so transferred to the general fund in a six-month period 
  4.29  may not exceed the amount transferred to the highway user tax 
  4.30  distribution fund for that six-month period. 
  4.31     Sec. 3.  [CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.] 
  4.32     An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article XIV, 
  4.33  section 9, is proposed to the people.  If the amendment is 
  4.34  adopted, the section will read: 
  4.35     Sec. 9.  (a) The legislature by law may tax motor vehicles 
  4.36  using the public streets and highways on a more onerous basis 
  5.1   than other personal property.  Any such tax on motor vehicles 
  5.2   shall be in lieu of all other taxes thereon, except wheelage 
  5.3   taxes imposed by political subdivisions solely for highway 
  5.4   purposes.  The legislature may impose this tax on motor vehicles 
  5.5   of companies paying taxes under the gross earnings system of 
  5.6   taxation notwithstanding that earnings from the vehicles may be 
  5.7   included in the earnings on which gross earnings taxes are 
  5.8   computed. 
  5.9      (b) The legislature by law may impose a tax on the sale or 
  5.10  transfer of a new or used motor vehicle. 
  5.11     (c) The proceeds of the tax these taxes shall be paid into 
  5.12  the highway user tax distribution fund. 
  5.13     (d) The law may exempt from taxation any motor vehicle 
  5.14  owned by a nonresident of the state properly licensed in another 
  5.15  state and transiently or temporarily using the streets and 
  5.16  highways of the state. 
  5.17     Sec. 4.  [SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.] 
  5.18     The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at 
  5.19  the 2000 general election and, if approved, takes effect for any 
  5.20  tax paid after June 30, 2001.  The question submitted must be: 
  5.21     "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide 
  5.22  that the sales tax on motor vehicles be deposited into the 
  5.23  highway user tax distribution fund to be used for streets and 
  5.24  highways? 
  5.25                                     Yes .......
  5.26                                     No ........"
  5.27     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.28     Section 2 is effective July 1, 2001, but only if the 
  5.29  constitutional amendment proposed in section 4 is passed by the 
  5.30  people.