1998 Minnesota Statutes

     473.252 Tax base revitalization account. 

    Subdivision 1.    Definition.  For the purpose of this 
 section, "municipality" means a statutory or home rule charter 
 city or town participating in the local housing incentives 
 program under section 473.254, or a county in the metropolitan 
 area.  

    Subd. 1a.    Development authority.  For the purpose of 
 this section, "development authority" means a statutory or home 
 rule charter city, housing and redevelopment authority, economic 
 development authority, and a port authority. 

    Subd. 2.    Sources of funds.  The council shall credit 
 to the tax base revitalization account within the fund the 
 amount, if any, provided for under subdivision 4, and the 
 amount, if any, distributed to the council under section 
 473F.08, subdivision 3b. 

    Subd. 3.    Distribution of funds.  (a) The council must 
 use the funds in the account to make grants to municipalities or 
 development authorities for the cleanup of polluted land in the 
 metropolitan area.  A grant to a metropolitan county or a 
 development authority must be used for a project in a 
 participating municipality.  The council shall prescribe and 
 provide the grant application form to municipalities.  The 
 council must consider the probability of funding from other 
 sources when making grants under this section. 

    (b)(1) The legislature expects that applications for grants 
 will exceed the available funds and the council will be able to 
 provide grants to only some of the applicant municipalities.  If 
 applications for grants for qualified sites exceed the available 
 funds, the council shall make grants that provide the highest 
 return in public benefits for the public costs incurred, that 
 encourage commercial and industrial development that will lead 
 to the preservation or growth of living-wage jobs and that 
 enhance the tax base of the recipient municipality. 

    (2) In making grants, the council shall establish regular 
 application deadlines in which grants will be awarded from the 
 available money in the account.  If the council provides for 
 application cycles of less than six-month intervals, the council 
 must reserve at least 40 percent of the receipts of the account 
 for a year for application deadlines that occur in the second 
 half of the year.  If the applications for grants exceed the 
 available funds for an application cycle, no more than one-half 
 of the funds may be granted to projects in a statutory or home 
 rule charter city and no more than three-quarters of the funds 
 may be granted to projects located in cities of the first class. 

    (c) A municipality may use the grant to provide a portion 
 of the local match requirement for project costs that qualify 
 for a grant under sections 116J.551 to 116J.557. 

    Subd. 4.    Tax.  The council may levy a tax on all 
 taxable property in the metropolitan area, as defined in section 
 473.121, to provide funds for the tax base revitalization 
 account in the metropolitan livable communities fund.  This tax 
 for the tax base revitalization account shall be certified by 
 the council, levied, and collected in the manner provided by 
 section 473.13.  The tax shall be in addition to that authorized 
 by section 473.249 and any other law and shall not affect the 
 amount or rate of taxes which may be levied by the council or 
 any metropolitan agency or local governmental unit. 

    The amount of the levy shall be as determined and certified 
 by the council, provided that the tax levied by the metropolitan 
 council for the tax base revitalization account shall not exceed 
 the product of (1) the metropolitan council's levy for the tax 
 base revitalization account under section 473.167, subdivision 
 3, for taxes payable in 1997 multiplied by (2) an index for 
 market valuation changes equal to the total market valuation of 
 all taxable property located within the metropolitan area for 
 the current taxes payable year divided by the total market 
 valuation of all taxable property located within the 
 metropolitan area for taxes payable in 1997. 

    For the purpose of determining the metropolitan council's 
 property tax levy limitation for the tax base revitalization 
 account, "total market valuation" means the total market 
 valuation of all taxable property within the metropolitan area 
 without valuation adjustments for fiscal disparities (chapter 
 473F), tax increment financing (sections 469.174 to 469.179), 
 and high voltage transmission lines (section 273.425). 

    Subd. 5.    State review.  The commissioner of revenue 
 shall certify the council's levy limitation under this section 
 to the council by August 1 of the levy year.  The council must 
 certify its proposed property tax levy to the commissioner of 
 revenue by September 1 of the levy year.  The commissioner of 
 revenue shall annually determine whether the property tax for 
 the tax base revitalization account certified by the 
 metropolitan council for levy following the adoption of its 
 proposed budget is within the levy limitation imposed by this 
 section.  The determination must be completed prior to September 
 10 of each year.  If current information regarding market 
 valuation in any county is not transmitted to the commissioner 
 in a timely manner, the commissioner may estimate the current 
 market valuation within that county for purposes of making the 
 calculation. 

    HIST: 1995 c 255 art 1 s 3; 1996 c 452 s 37; 1996 c 464 art 1 
 s 5