Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/10/2014

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Authorized Investments — The list of authorized investments for cities was expanded to include: revenue obligations issued by local governments without levy authority that are rated AA or better; short-term (13 month maturity or less) obligation issued by a school district that is either rated in the highest credit rating category or covered by the State of Minnesota Credit Enhancement Program; and short-term (18 month maturity or less) guaranteed investment contracts when the issuer's or guarantor's short-term debt is rated in the highest rating category, even if their long -term debt is rated below the top two rating categories. Elections — The Legislature passed an omnibus elections policy bill that made a number of changes and clarifications to election requirements, including: • Establishing "no excuse" absentee balloting; • Increasing the time for counting absentee ballots from 4 days prior to the election to 7; • Reducing the number of people a voter may vouch for in a polling place from 15 to 8; • Eliminating the requirement to have at least one telecommunications device for deaf voter registration in every city of the first, second, or third class; • Requiring that the municipal clerk designated to administer absentee ballots also be responsible for the administration of a "ballot board "; • Reducing the number of election judges required in a precinct for elections other than a general election from 4 to 3, for precincts with more than 500 voters; and allowing the minimum number of three election judges for all elections including general elections for precincts with less than 500 registered voters; • Modifying the vote differentials requiring publically funded recounts to 0.25 percent in elections where more than 50,000 votes are cast, and 0.5 percent for elections in which between 400 and 50,000 votes are cast; • Amending the time period in which cities are prohibited from holding a special election from the first 40 days following a general election to the first 56 days; • Increasing the number of days' notice a city clerk must provide to a county auditor before holding a municipal election from 67 to 74 days; and • Establishing a pilot program and task force for the use of electronic rosters of voters. Alternative Bid Publication for Projects Funded by Special Assessments — A technical change was made to eliminate duplicative publication requirements for projects funded with special assessments. The definition of "recognized industry trade journal" was broadened to include websites or electronic publications, thereby eliminating circumstances that were forcing cities utilizing an alternative electronic publication method to also publish written notice for certain projects. Met Council Allocated Costs — A change was made to allow cities that are allocated costs by the Met Council to request the cost be deferred, or to be paid over time on a payment schedule with interest as agreed to by the Met Council. Liquor Licensing — An omnibus liquor bill was passed that made several changes to liquor licensing and distribution. Among the changes are: authorizing cities with municipal liquor operations to issue brewer taproom licenses that allow consumption on the premises or adjacent to malt liquor breweries; authorizing cities to issue brewers a license for off -sale of malt liquor packaged by the brewer; providing for the sale of malt - liquor educator licenses that will allow malt liquor tastings and education to be conducted similar to wine tastings; and allowing micro - distilleries to provide product samples on site. Tax - Exempt Holding Period for Development Property — The tax exempt holding period for city -owned land held for development is increased from 9 to 15 years for property acquired between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2010, or for property located in a city outside of the metro area with a population under 20,000. -19-