9. Proposed Bill Providing Property Tax Freeze for Homeowners Over 65.G
Ashworth's Calculations
Total Population
% Seniors
Est. Seniors/Household
Total Households
Rental Units
Single Family Seniors
Average tax bill
% City (18 %)
Estimated Increase Value
20,000
8%
1,600
1.5
1,000
80/20
800
3,000
600
5 %
$30
Max. Probable Liability
800 x 30 = 24,000 /yr.
*Note if increase is more than 10 %, state relief kicks in.
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1 A bill for an act
2 relating to property taxes; providing for a property
3 tax freeze for homeowners aged 65 or older; amending
4 Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 124.214, subdivision
5 2; 275.065, subdivision 3; 275.08, subdivision lb; and
6 276.04, subdivision 2, and by adding a subdivision.
7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
8 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124.214,
9 subdivision 2, is amended to read: `
10 Subd. 2. [ABATEMENTS.] Whenever by virtue of chapter 278,
11 sections 270.07, 375.192, or otherwise, the net tax capacity of
12 any school district for any taxable year is changed after the
13 taxes for that year have been spread by the county auditor and
14 the local tax rate as determined by the county auditor based
15 upon the original net tax capacity is applied upon the changed
16 net tax capacities, the county auditor shall, prior to February
17 1 of each year, certify to the commissioner of children,
18 families, and learning the amount of any resulting net revenue
19 loss that accrued to the school district during the preceding
20 year. Each year, the commissioner shall pay an abatement
21 adjustment to the district in an amount calculated according to
22 the provisions of this subdivision. This amount shall be
23 deducted from the amount of the levy authorized by section
24 124.912, subdivision 9. The amount of the abatement adjustment
25 shall be the product of:
26 (1) the net revenue loss from abatements and from tax
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1 reductions under section 276.04, subdivision as certified by
2 the county auditor, times
3 (2) the ratio of:
4 (a) the sum of the amounts of the district's certified levy
5 in the preceding year according to the following:
6 (i) section 124A.23 if the district received general
7 education aid according to that section for the second preceding
8 year;
9 (ii) section 124.226, subdivisions 1 and 4, if the district
10 received transportation aid according to section 124.225 for the
11 second preceding year;
12 (iii) section 124.243, if the district received capital
13 expenditure facilities aid according to that section for the
14 second preceding year;
15 (iv) section 124.244, if the district received capital
16 expenditure equipment aid according to that section for the
17 second preceding year;
18 (v) section 124.83, if the district received health and
19 safety aid according to that section for the second preceding
20 year;
21 (vi) sections 124.2713, 124.2714, and 124.2715, if the
22 district received aid for community education programs according
23 to any of those sections for the second preceding year;
24 (vii) section 124.2711, subdivision 2a, if the district
25 received early childhood family education aid according to
26 section 124.2711 for the second preceding year;
27 (viii) section 124.321, subdivision 3, if the district
28 received special education levy equalization aid according to
29 that section for the second preceding year;
30 (ix) section 124A.03, subdivision lg, if the district
31 received referendum equalization aid according to that section
32 for the second preceding year; and
33 (x) section 124A.22, subdivision 4a, if the district
34 received training and experience aid according to that section
35 for the second preceding year;
36 (b) to the total amount of the district's certified levy in
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1 the preceding October, plus or minus auditor's adjustments.
2 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 275.065,
3 subdivision 3, is amended to read:
4 Subd. 3. [NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROPERTY TAXES.] (a) The
5 county auditor shall prepare and the county treasurer shall
6 deliver after November 10 and on or before November 24 each
7 year, by first class mail to each taxpayer at the address listed
8 on the county's current year's assessment roll, a notice of
9 proposed property taxes and, in the case of a town, final
10 property taxes.
it (b) The commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of
12 the notice.
13 (c) The notice must inform taxpayers that it contains the
14 amount of property taxes each taxing authority other than a town
15 proposes to collect for taxes payable the following year and,
16 for a town, the amount of its final levy. It must clearly state
17 that each taxing authority, including regional library districts
18 established under section 134.201, and including the
19 metropolitan taxing districts as defined in paragraph (i), but
20 excluding all other special taxing districts and towns, will
21 hold a public meeting to receive public testimony on the
22 proposed budget and proposed or final property tax levy, or, in
23 case of a school district, on the current budget and proposed
24 property tax levy. It must clearly state the time and place of
25 each taxing authority's meeting and an address where comments
26 will be received by mail.
27 (d) The notice must state for each parcel:
28 (1) the market value of the property as determined under
29 section 273.11, and used for computing property taxes payable in
30 the following year and for taxes payable in the current year;
31 and, in the case of residential property, whether the property
32 is classified as homestead or nonhomestead. The notice must
33 clearly inform taxpayers of the years to which the market values
34 apply and that the values are final values;
35 (2) by county, city or town, school district excess
36 referenda levy, remaining school district levy, regional library
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district, if in existence, the total of the metropolitan special
taxing districts as defined in paragraph (i) and the sum of the
remaining special taxing districts, and as a total of the taxing
authorities, including all special taxing districts, the
proposed or, for a town, final net tax on the property for taxes
payable the following year and the actual tax for taxes payable
the current year. The notice shall state the amount of any tax
reduction accruing to the property under section 276.04,
subdivision 2a, and shall reflect the net tax after the
application of that subdivision. If a school district has
certified under section 124A.03, subdivision 2, 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. For the purposes of this
subdivision, "school district excess referenda levy" means
school district taxes for operating purposes approved at
referendums, including those taxes based on net tax capacity as
well as those based on market value. "School district excess
referenda levy" does not include school district taxes for
capital expenditures approved at referendums or school district
taxes to pay for the debt service on bonds approved at
referenda. In the case of the city of Minneapolis, the levy for
the Minneapolis library board and the levy for Minneapolis park
and recreation shall be listed separately from the remaining
amount of the city'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 in the amounts in clause (2)
from taxes payable in the current year to proposed or, for a
town, final taxes payable the following year, expressed as a
dollar amount and as a percentage.
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1 (e) The notice must clearly state that the proposed or
2 final taxes do not include the following:
3 (1) special assessments;
4 (2) levies approved by the voters after the date the
5 proposed taxes are certified, including bond referenda, school
6 district levy referenda, and levy limit increase referenda;
7 (3) amounts necessary to pay cleanup or other costs due to
8 a natural disaster occurring after the date the proposed taxes
9 are certified;
10 (4) amounts necessary to pay tort judgments against the
11 taxing authority that become final after the date the proposed
12 taxes are certified; and
13 (5) the contamination tax imposed on properties which
14 received market value reductions for contamination.
15 (f) Except as provided in subdivision 7, failure of the
16 county auditor to prepare or the county treasurer to deliver the
17 notice as required in this section does not invalidate the
18 proposed or final tax levy or the taxes payable pursuant to the
19 tax levy.
20 (g) If the notice the taxpayer receives under this section
21 lists the property as nonhomestead and the homeowner provides
22 satisfactory documentation to the county assessor that the
23 property is owned and used as the owner's homestead, the
24 assessor shall reclassify the property to homestead for taxes
25 payable in the following year.
26 (h) In the case of class 4 residential property used as a
27 residence for lease or rental periods of 30 days or more, the
28 taxpayer must either:
29 (1) mail or deliver a copy of the notice of proposed
30 property taxes to each tenant, renter, or lessee; or
31 (2) post a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the
32 premises of the property.
33 The notice must be mailed or posted by the taxpayer by
34 November 27 or within three days of receipt of the notice,
35 whichever is later. A taxpayer may notify the county treasurer
36 of the address of the taxpayer, agent, caretaker, or manager of
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the premises to which the notice must be mailed in order to
fulfill the requirements of this paragraph.
(i) For purposes of this subdivision, subdivisions 5a and
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 and
shall be discussed at that county's public hearing.
(j) For taxes levied in 1996, payable in 1997 only, in the
case of a statutory or home rule charter city or town that
exercises the local levy option provided in section 473.388,
subdivision 7, the notice of its proposed taxes may include a
statement of the amount by which its proposed tax increase for
taxes payable in 1997 is attributable to its exercise of that
option, together with a statement that the levy of the
metropolitan council was decreased by a similar amount because
of the exercise of that option.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 275.08,
subdivision lb, is amended to read:
Subd. lb. [COMPUTATION OF TAX RATES.] The amounts
certified to be levied against net tax capacity under section
275.07 by an individual local government unit shall be divided
by the total net tax capacity of all taxable properties within
the local government unit's taxing jurisdiction. The resulting
ratio, the local government's local tax rate, multiplied by each
Property's net tax capacity shall be each property's net tax
capacity tax for that local government unit before reduction by
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1 any credits or by the application of section 276.04, s ubdivision
2 2a.
3 Any amount certified to the county auditor to be levied
4 against market value shall be divided by the total referendum
5 market value of all taxable properties within the taxing
6 district. The resulting ratio, the taxing district's new
7 referendum tax rate, multiplied by each property's referendum
8 market value shall be each property's new referendum tax before
9 reduction by any credits. For the purposes of this subdivision,
10 "referendum market value" means the market value as defined in
11 section 124A.02, subdivision 3b.
12 ' Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 276.04,
13 subdivision 2, is amended to read:
14 Subd. 2. [CONTENTS OF TAX STATEMENTS.] (a) The treasurer
15 shall provide for the printing of the tax statements. The
16 commissioner of revenue shall prescribe the form of the property
17 tax statement and its contents. The statement must contain a
18 tabulated statement of the dollar amount due to each taxing
19 authority from the parcel of real property for which a
20 particular tax statement is prepared. The dollar amounts due
21 the county, township or municipality, the total of the
22 metropolitan special taxing districts as defined in section
23 275.065, subdivision 3, paragraph (i), school district excess
24 referenda levy, remaining school district levy, and the total of
25 other voter approved referenda levies based on market value
26 under section 275.61 must be separately stated. The amounts due
27 all other special taxing districts, if any, may be aggregated.
28 For the purposes of this subdivision, "school district excess
29 referenda levy" means school district taxes for operating
30 purposes approved at referenda, including those taxes based on
31 net tax capacity as well as those based on market value.
32 "School district excess referenda levy" does not include school
33 district taxes for capital expenditures approved at referendums
34 or school district taxes to pay for the debt service on bonds
35 approved at referenda. The amount of the tax on contamination
36 value imposed under sections 270.91 to 270.98, if any, must also
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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. The statement shall include the following
sentence, printed in upper case letters in boldface print: "THE
STATE OF MINNESOTA DOES NOT RECEIVE ANY PROPERTY TAX REVENUES.
THE STATE OF MINNESOTA REDUCES YOUR PROPERTY TAX BY PAYING
CREDITS AND REIMBURSEMENTS TO LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT."
(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 taxable market value after reductions
under section 273.11, subdivisions la and 16;
(3) the property's gross tax, calculated by multiplying the
property's gross tax capacity times the total local tax rate and
adding to the result the sum of the aids enumerated in clause
(4);
(4) a total of the following aids:
(i) education aids payable under chapters 124 and 124A;
(ii) local government aids for cities, towns, and counties
under chapter 477A; and
(iii) disparity reduction aid under section 273.1398;
(5) for homestead residential and agricultural properties,
the homestead and agricultural credit aid apportioned to the
property. This amount is obtained by multiplying the total
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1 local tax rate by the difference between the property's gross
2 and net tax capacities under section 273.13. This amount must
3 be separately stated and identified as "homestead and
4 agricultural credit." For purposes of comparison with the
5 previous year's amount for the statement for taxes payable in
6 1990, the statement must show the homestead credit for taxes
7 payable in 1989 under section 273.13, and the agricultural
8 credit under section 273.132 for taxes payable in 1989;
9 (6) any credits received under sections 273.119; 273.123;
10 273.135; 273.1391; 273.1398, subdivision 4; 469.171; and
11 473H.10, except that the amount of credit received under section
12 273.135 must be separately stated and identified as "taconite
13 tax relief "; and
14 (7) the amount of any tax reduction resulting from the
15 property qualifying for treatment under subdivision 2a; and
16 (8) the net tax payable in the manner required in paragraph
17 (a).
18 (d) If the county uses envelopes for mailing property tax
19 statements and if the county agrees, a taxing district may
20 include a notice with the property tax statement notifying
21 taxpayers when the taxing district will begin its budget
22 deliberations for the current year, and encouraging taxpayers to
23 attend the hearings. If the county allows notices to be
24 included in the envelope containing the property tax statement,
25 and if more than one taxing district relative to a given
26 property decides to include a notice with the tax statement, the
27 county treasurer or auditor must coordinate the process and may
28 combine the information on a single announcement.
29 The commissioner of revenue shall certify to the county
30 auditor the actual or estimated aids enumerated in clauses (3)
31 and (4) that local governments will receive in the following
32 year. In the case of a county containing a city of the first
33 class, for taxes levied in 1991, and for all counties for taxes
34 levied in 1992 and thereafter, the commissioner must certify
35 this amount by September 1.
36 Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 276.04, is
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1 amended by adding a subdivision to read:
2 Subd. 2a. [HOMESTEADS OF PERSONS AT LEAST AGE 65; TAX
3 INCREASE PROHIBITED.] (a) The net tax payable on class 1
4 ro ert v as defined in section 273.13, subdivision 22, and that
5 22,rt of class 2a propert as defined in section 273.13,
6 subdivision 23, consisting of the house, garag and surrounding
7 one acre of land, may not exceed its net tax p a able for the
8 nq year, if all of the followina conditions are met:
9 1) the owners or, in the case of property owned by a
10 married cou le in 'oint tenancy or tenancy in common, at least
11 one of the owners, are at least 65 years of age on January 1 of
12 the current tax year;
13 2 the total household income as defined in section
14 290A.03, subdivision 3, for the preceding calendar Etar does not
15 exceed $ .......
16 3 the ro ert ualifies for full homestead
17 classifi for both the prev and cu rrent tax years;
18 (4) the owner or owners have owned the property for both
19 year_ sand
20 5 the owner or owners have applied for taxation under
21 this s ection as required in paragraph (b)_
22 b An owner or owners must apply to the county auditor for
23 taxation under this subdivision by July 1 of the ear before the
24 near for which treatment under parag (a) is first
25 requested The applicant or applicants must submit proof of
26 ace, house income, and any othe information required by the
27 audit 1* ' litv fo r taxation und paragraph
28 nq yearsf applicants must submit whatever
29 information the assessor deems necessar to determine continued
30 eligibility under this s ection.
31 jS1 This subdivision does not a 1 to any increase in net
32 ro ert taxes attributable to im rovements made to the
33 homestead.
34 (d) The c ounty auditor shall annu info the public o
35 the availabilit of treatment under this subdivision.
36 (e ) Property that no longer qualifies for treatment under
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I ' -
1 this section shall be taxed as otherwise provided by law.
2 (f) The amount of any tax reduction resulting from the
3 application of this subdivision shall be allo among the
4 taxing districts in proportion to each taxing d istrict's tax
5 rate relative to the total tax rate being levied against the
6 property.
7 Sec. 6. [EFFECTIVE DATE.)
8 Sections 1 to 5 are effective for taxes levied in 1997,
9 payable in 1998 and subsequent years.
11