Bill Text: MN SF1829 | 2011-2012 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Property tax statements and notices modification

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-08 - Author added Ortman [SF1829 Detail]

Download: Minnesota-2011-SF1829-Introduced.html

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A bill for an act

relating to taxation; modifying property tax statements and notices;amending
Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 275.065, subdivision 3; Minnesota Statutes
2011 Supplement, section 276.04, subdivision 2.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

    Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 275.065, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
    Subd. 3. Notice of proposed property taxes. (a) The county auditor shall prepare
and the county treasurer shall deliver after November 10 and on or before November 24
each year, by first class mail to each taxpayer at the address listed on the county's current
year's assessment roll, a notice of proposed property taxes. Upon written request by
the taxpayer, the treasurer may send the notice in electronic form or by electronic mail
instead of on paper or by ordinary mail.
    (b) The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of the notice.
    (c) The notice must inform taxpayers that it contains the amount of property taxes
each taxing authority proposes to collect for taxes payable the following year. In the
case of a town, or in the case of the state general tax, the final tax amount will be its
proposed tax. The notice must clearly state For each city that has a population over 500,
county, school district, regional library authority established under section 134.201, and
metropolitan taxing districts as defined in paragraph (i), the notice must state the time
and place of a meeting for each taxing authority in which the budget and levy will be
discussed and public input allowed, prior to the final budget and levy determination.
For each special taxing district, the notice must: (1) list separately any levy by a special
taxing district that exceeds 25 percent of the total of all special taxing district levies; and
(2) provide identifying and contact information for each special taxing district. The taxing
authorities must provide the county auditor with the information to be included in the
notice on or before the time it certifies its proposed levy under subdivision 1. The public
must be allowed to speak at that meeting, which must occur after November 24 and must
not be held before 6:00 p.m. It must provide a telephone number for the taxing authority
that taxpayers may call if they have questions related to the notice and an address where
comments will be received by mail, except that no notice required under this section
shall be interpreted as requiring the printing of a personal telephone number or address
as the contact information for a taxing authority. If a taxing authority does not maintain
public offices where telephone calls can be received by the authority, the authority may
inform the county of the lack of a public telephone number and the county shall not list a
telephone number for that taxing authority.
    (d) The notice must state for each parcel:
    (1) the market value of the property as determined under section 273.11, and used
for computing property taxes payable in the following year and for taxes payable in the
current year as each appears in the records of the county assessor on November 1 of the
current year; and, in the case of residential property, whether the property is classified as
homestead or nonhomestead. The notice must clearly inform taxpayers of the years to
which the market values apply and that the values are final values;
    (2) the items listed below, shown separately by county, city or town, and state general
tax, net of the residential and agricultural homestead credit under section 273.1384, voter
approved school levy, other local school levy, a special taxing district levy that exceeds 25
percent of the total of all special taxing districts, and the sum of the all other special taxing
districts, and as a total of all taxing authorities:
    (i) the actual tax for taxes payable in the current year; and
    (ii) the proposed tax amount.
    If the county levy under clause (2) includes an amount for a lake improvement
district as defined under sections 103B.501 to 103B.581, the amount attributable for that
purpose must be separately stated from the remaining county levy amount.
    In the case of a town or the state general tax, the final tax shall also be its proposed
tax unless the town changes its levy at a special town meeting under section 365.52. If a
school district has certified under section 126C.17, subdivision 9, that a referendum will
be held in the school district at the November general election, the county auditor must
note next to the school district's proposed amount that a referendum is pending and that, if
approved by the voters, the tax amount may be higher than shown on the notice. In the
case of the city of Minneapolis, the levy for Minneapolis Park and Recreation shall be
listed separately from the remaining amount of the city's levy. In the case of the city of
St. Paul, the levy for the St. Paul Library Agency must be listed separately from the
remaining amount of the city's levy. In the case of Ramsey County, any amount levied
under section 134.07 may be listed separately from the remaining amount of the county's
levy. In the case of a parcel where tax increment or the fiscal disparities areawide tax
under chapter 276A or 473F applies, the proposed tax levy on the captured value or the
proposed tax levy on the tax capacity subject to the areawide tax must each be stated
separately and not included in the sum of the special taxing districts; and
    (3) the increase or decrease between the total taxes payable in the current year and
the total proposed taxes, expressed as a percentage.
    For purposes of this section, the amount of the tax on homesteads qualifying under
the senior citizens' property tax deferral program under chapter 290B is the total amount
of property tax before subtraction of the deferred property tax amount.
    (e) The notice must clearly state that the proposed or final taxes do not include
the following:
    (1) special assessments;
    (2) levies approved by the voters after the date the proposed taxes are certified,
including bond referenda and school district levy referenda;
    (3) a levy limit increase approved by the voters by the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November of the levy year as provided under section 275.73;
    (4) amounts necessary to pay cleanup or other costs due to a natural disaster
occurring after the date the proposed taxes are certified;
    (5) amounts necessary to pay tort judgments against the taxing authority that become
final after the date the proposed taxes are certified; and
    (6) the contamination tax imposed on properties which received market value
reductions for contamination.
    (f) Except as provided in subdivision 7, failure of the county auditor to prepare or
the county treasurer to deliver the notice as required in this section does not invalidate the
proposed or final tax levy or the taxes payable pursuant to the tax levy.
    (g) If the notice the taxpayer receives under this section lists the property as
nonhomestead, and satisfactory documentation is provided to the county assessor by the
applicable deadline, and the property qualifies for the homestead classification in that
assessment year, the assessor shall reclassify the property to homestead for taxes payable
in the following year.
    (h) In the case of class 4 residential property used as a residence for lease or rental
periods of 30 days or more, the taxpayer must either:
    (1) mail or deliver a copy of the notice of proposed property taxes to each tenant,
renter, or lessee; or
    (2) post a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the premises of the property.
    The notice must be mailed or posted by the taxpayer by November 27 or within
three days of receipt of the notice, whichever is later. A taxpayer may notify the county
treasurer of the address of the taxpayer, agent, caretaker, or manager of the premises to
which the notice must be mailed in order to fulfill the requirements of this paragraph.
    (i) For purposes of this subdivision and subdivision 6, "metropolitan special taxing
districts" means the following taxing districts in the seven-county metropolitan area that
levy a property tax for any of the specified purposes listed below:
    (1) Metropolitan Council under section 473.132, 473.167, 473.249, 473.325,
473.446 , 473.521, 473.547, or 473.834;
    (2) Metropolitan Airports Commission under section 473.667, 473.671, or 473.672;
and
    (3) Metropolitan Mosquito Control Commission under section 473.711.
    For purposes of this section, any levies made by the regional rail authorities in the
county of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington under chapter
398A shall be included with the appropriate county's levy.
    (j) The governing body of a county, city, or school district may, with the consent
of the county board, include supplemental information with the statement of proposed
property taxes about the impact of state aid increases or decreases on property tax
increases or decreases and on the level of services provided in the affected jurisdiction.
This supplemental information may include information for the following year, the current
year, and for as many consecutive preceding years as deemed appropriate by the governing
body of the county, city, or school district. It may include only information regarding:
    (1) the impact of inflation as measured by the implicit price deflator for state and
local government purchases;
    (2) population growth and decline;
    (3) state or federal government action; and
    (4) other financial factors that affect the level of property taxation and local services
that the governing body of the county, city, or school district may deem appropriate to
include.
    The information may be presented using tables, written narrative, and graphic
representations and may contain instruction toward further sources of information or
opportunity for comment.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for tax statements relating to taxes
payable in 2013 and thereafter.

    Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 276.04, subdivision 2, is
amended to read:
    Subd. 2. Contents of tax statements. (a) The treasurer shall provide for the
printing of the tax statements. The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of
the property tax statement and its contents. The tax statement must not state or imply
that property tax credits are paid by the state of Minnesota. The statement must contain
a tabulated statement of the dollar amount due to each taxing authority and the amount
of the state tax from the parcel of real property for which a particular tax statement is
prepared. The dollar amounts attributable to the county, the state tax, the voter approved
school tax, the other local school tax, the township or municipality, and the total of
the metropolitan special taxing districts as defined in section 275.065, subdivision 3,
paragraph (i), must be separately stated. The amounts due all other special taxing districts,
if any, may be aggregated except that (1) any levies made by the regional rail authorities
in the county of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington under
chapter 398A shall be listed on a separate line directly under the appropriate county's
levy and (2) any levy by a special taxing district that exceeds 25 percent of the total of all
special taxing district levies on a tax statement must be separately stated. If the county
levy under this paragraph includes an amount for a lake improvement district as defined
under sections 103B.501 to 103B.581, the amount attributable for that purpose must be
separately stated from the remaining county levy amount. In the case of Ramsey County,
if the county levy under this paragraph includes an amount for public library service
under section 134.07, the amount attributable for that purpose may be separated from the
remaining county levy amount. The amount of the tax on homesteads qualifying under the
senior citizens' property tax deferral program under chapter 290B is the total amount of
property tax before subtraction of the deferred property tax amount. The amount of the
tax on contamination value imposed under sections 270.91 to 270.98, if any, must also
be separately stated. The dollar amounts, including the dollar amount of any special
assessments, may be rounded to the nearest even whole dollar. For purposes of this section
whole odd-numbered dollars may be adjusted to the next higher even-numbered dollar.
The amount of market value excluded under section 273.11, subdivision 16, if any, must
also be listed on the tax statement.
    (b) The property tax statements for manufactured homes and sectional structures
taxed as personal property shall contain the same information that is required on the
tax statements for real property.
    (c) Real and personal property tax statements must contain the following information
in the order given in this paragraph. The information must contain the current year tax
information in the right column with the corresponding information for the previous year
in a column on the left:
    (1) the property's estimated market value under section 273.11, subdivision 1;
(2) the property's homestead market value exclusion under section 273.13,
subdivision 35;
    (3) the property's taxable market value after reductions under sections 273.11,
subdivisions 1a and 16, and 273.13, subdivision 35;
    (4) the property's gross tax, before credits;
    (5) for homestead agricultural properties, the credit under section 273.1384;
    (6) any credits received under sections 273.119; 273.1234 or 273.1235; 273.135;
273.1391 ; 273.1398, subdivision 4; 469.171; and 473H.10, except that the amount of
credit received under section 273.135 must be separately stated and identified as "taconite
tax relief"; and
    (7) the net tax payable in the manner required in paragraph (a).
    (d) If the county uses envelopes for mailing property tax statements and if the county
agrees, a taxing district may include a notice with the property tax statement notifying
taxpayers when the taxing district will begin its budget deliberations for the current
year, and encouraging taxpayers to attend the hearings. If the county allows notices to
be included in the envelope containing the property tax statement, and if more than
one taxing district relative to a given property decides to include a notice with the tax
statement, the county treasurer or auditor must coordinate the process and may combine
the information on a single announcement.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for tax statements relating to taxes
payable in 2013 and thereafter.