SF 2759

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 04/01/2019 03:42pm

A bill for an act
relating to public finance; modifying sections governing bonds, drainage lien
interest, notice requirements for school and private activity bonds, transportation
bonds, and municipal bankruptcy; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections
103E.611, subdivision 2; 123B.595, subdivision 5; 297A.993, subdivision 1, by
adding a subdivision; 462C.04, subdivision 2; 469.154, subdivision 4; 471.831;
473.39, subdivision 6; 474A.02, subdivision 22b; 475.521, subdivision 1.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 103E.611, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Interest.

(a) Interest is an additional drainage lien on all property until paid.
The interest rate on the drainage lien principal from the date the drainage lien statement is
recorded must be set by the board but may not exceed the rate determined by the state court
administrator for judgments under section 549.09 new text begin , or six percent, whichever is greater new text end .

(b) Before the tax lists for the year are given to the county treasurer, the auditor shall
compute the interest on the unpaid balance of the drainage lien at the rate set by the board.
The amount of interest must be computed on the entire unpaid principal from the date the
drainage lien was recorded to August 15 of the next calendar year, and afterwards from
August 15 to August 15 of each year.

(c) Interest is due and payable after November 1 of each year the drainage lien principal
or interest is due and unpaid.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 123B.595, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Bond authorization.

(a) A school district may issue general obligation bonds
under this section to finance facilities plans approved by its board and the commissioner.
Chapter 475, except sections 475.58 and 475.59, must be complied with. The authority to
issue bonds under this section is in addition to any bonding authority authorized by this
chapter or other law. The amount of bonding authority authorized under this section must
be disregarded in calculating the bonding or net debt limits of this chapter, or any other law
other than section 475.53, subdivision 4.

(b) At least 20 days before the earliest of deleted text begin solicitation of bids, deleted text end the issuance of bonds deleted text begin , deleted text end or
the final certification of levies under subdivision 6, the district must publish notice of the
intended projects, the amount of the bond issue, and the total amount of district indebtedness.

(c) The portion of revenue under this section for bonded debt must be recognized in the
debt service fund.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 297A.993, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Authorization; rates.

Notwithstanding section 297A.99, subdivisions
1, 2, 3, 5, and 13, or 477A.016, or any other law, the board of a county deleted text begin outside the
metropolitan transportation area, as defined under section 297A.992, subdivision 1 deleted text end , or more
than one county deleted text begin outside the metropolitan transportation area deleted text end acting under a joint powers
agreement, may by resolution of the county board, or each of the county boards, following
a public hearing impose (1) a transportation sales tax at a rate of up to one-half of one percent
on retail sales and uses taxable under this chapter, and (2) an excise tax of $20 per motor
vehicle, as defined in section 297B.01, subdivision 11, purchased or acquired from any
person engaged in the business of selling motor vehicles at retail, occurring within the
jurisdiction of the taxing authority.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 297A.993, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Bonds. new text end

new text begin (a) A county may, by resolution, authorize, issue, and sell its bonds,
notes, or other obligations for the purposes specified in subdivision 2. The county may also,
by resolution, issue bonds to refund the bonds issued pursuant to this subdivision.
new text end

new text begin (b) The bonds may be limited obligations, payable solely from or secured by taxes levied
under this section, and the county may also pledge its full faith, credit, and taxing power as
additional security for the bonds. A regional railroad authority within the county may also
pledge its taxing powers as additional security for the bonds.
new text end

new text begin (c) Bonds may be issued in one or more series and sold without an election. The bonds
shall be secured, bear the interest rate or rates or a variable rate, have the rank or priority,
be executed in the manner, be payable in the manner, mature, and be subject to the defaults,
redemptions, repurchases, tender options, or other terms, and shall be sold in such manner
as the county may determine.
new text end

new text begin (d) The county may enter into and perform all contracts deemed necessary or desirable
by it to issue and secure the bonds, including an indenture of trust with a trustee within or
without the state.
new text end

new text begin (e) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the bonds must be issued and sold
in the manner provided under chapter 475.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 462C.04, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Program review.

A public hearing shall be held on each program after one
publication of notice in a newspaper circulating generally in the city, at least deleted text begin 15 deleted text end new text begin seven new text end days
before the hearing. On or before the day on which notice of the public hearing is published,
the city shall submit the program to the Metropolitan Council, if the city is located in the
metropolitan area as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2, or to the regional development
commission for the area in which the city is located, if any, for review and comment. The
appropriate reviewing agency shall comment on:

(a) whether the program furthers local and regional housing policies and is consistent
with the Metropolitan Development Guide, if the city is located in the metropolitan area,
or adopted policies of the regional development commission; and

(b) the compatibility of the program with the housing portion of the comprehensive plan
of the city, if any.

Review of the program may be conducted either by the board of the reviewing agency
or by the staff of the agency. Any comment submitted by the reviewing agency to the city
must be presented to the body considering the proposed program at the public hearing held
on the program.

A member or employee of the reviewing agency shall be permitted to present the
comments of the reviewing agency at the public hearing. After conducting the public hearing,
the program may be adopted with or without amendment, provided that any amendments
must not be inconsistent with the comments, if any, of the reviewing agency and must not
contain any material changes from the program submitted to the reviewing agency other
than changes in the financial aspects of any proposed issue of bonds or obligations. If any
material change other than a change in the financial aspects of a proposed issue of bonds
or obligations, or any change which is inconsistent with the comments of the reviewing
agency is adopted, the amended program shall be resubmitted to the appropriate reviewing
agency for review and comment, and a public hearing shall be held on the amended program
after one publication of notice in a newspaper circulating generally in the city at least deleted text begin 15 deleted text end new text begin
seven new text end days before the hearing. The amended program shall be considered after the public
hearing in the same manner as consideration of the initial program.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 469.154, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Hearing.

Prior to submitting an application to the department requesting
approval of a project pursuant to subdivision 3, the governing body or a committee of the
governing body of the municipality or redevelopment agency shall conduct a public hearing
on the proposal to undertake and finance the project. Notice of the time and place of hearing,
and stating the general nature of the project and an estimate of the principal amount of bonds
or other obligations to be issued to finance the project, shall be published at least once not
less than deleted text begin 14 deleted text end new text begin seven new text end days nor more than 30 days prior to the date fixed for the hearing, in the
official newspaper and a newspaper of general circulation of the municipality or
redevelopment agency. The notice shall state that a draft copy of the proposed application
to the department, together with all attachments and exhibits, shall be available for public
inspection following the publication of the notice and shall specify the place and times
where and when it will be so available. The governing body of the municipality or the
redevelopment agency shall give all parties who appear at the hearing an opportunity to
express their views with respect to the proposal to undertake and finance the project.
Following the completion of the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality or
redevelopment agency shall adopt a resolution determining whether or not to proceed with
the project and its financing; it may thereafter apply to the department for approval of the
project.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 471.831, is amended to read:

471.831 MUNICIPALITY MAY FILE BANKRUPTCY PETITION.

Subdivision 1.

Any relief under bankruptcy code.

A municipality, as defined in
subdivision 2, may file a petition and seek any relief available to it under United States
Code, title 11, as amended deleted text begin through December 31, 1996 deleted text end .

Subd. 2.

Municipality defined.

In this section, "municipality" means a municipality as
defined in United States Code, title 11, section 101, as amended deleted text begin through December 31,
1996 deleted text end , but limited to a county, statutory or home rule charter city, or town; or a housing and
redevelopment authority, economic development authority, or rural development financing
authority established under chapter 469, a home rule charter, or special law.

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 473.39, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Limitation; light rail transit.

The council is prohibited from expending any
proceeds from certificates of indebtedness, bonds, or other obligations under deleted text begin this section deleted text end new text begin
subdivision 1u new text end for project development, land acquisition, or construction to (1) establish a
light rail transit line; or (2) expand a light rail transit line, including by extending a line or
adding additional stops.

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 474A.02, subdivision 22b, is amended to read:

Subd. 22b.

Public facilities project.

"Public facilities project" means any publicly owned
facility, or new text begin a new text end facility deleted text begin owned by a nonprofit organization deleted text end that is used for district heating or
cooling, new text begin whether publicly or privately owned, new text end that is eligible to be financed with the proceeds
of public facilities bonds as defined under section 474A.02, subdivision 23a.

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 475.521, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
meanings given.

(a) "Bonds" mean an obligation defined under section 475.51.

(b) "Capital improvement" means acquisition or betterment of public lands, buildings
or other improvements for the purpose of a city hall, town hall, library, public safety facility,
and public works facility. An improvement must have an expected useful life of five years
or more to qualify. Capital improvement does not include light rail transit or any activity
related to it, or a park, road, bridge, administrative building other than a city or town hall,
or land for any of those facilities. For purposes of this section, "capital improvement"
includes expenditures for purposes described in this paragraph that have been incurred by
a municipality before approval of a capital improvement plan, if such expenditures are
included in a capital improvement plan approved on or before the date of the public hearing
under subdivision 2 regarding issuance of bonds for such expenditures.

(c) "Municipality" means a home rule charter or statutory city or a town deleted text begin described in
section 368.01, subdivision 1 or 1a deleted text end .