Agenda - Council - 01/24/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Municipal Revenue & Taxation resources. Constitutional limits result in a reduced base during times of economic downturn and the inability to recover to previous service levels when economic prosperity returns. 1-K State Property Tax The state levies a property tax on commercial/industrial and cabin property. Since cities' only source of general funds is the property tax, Metro Cities strongly opposes extension of the state-levied property tax to additional classes of property. Metro Cities opposes using the statewide property tax to fund specific programs or objectives generally funded through general state income and sales tax revenue. In the interest of increasing transparency, Metro Cities supports efforts to have the state provide information on the property tax statement regarding the state property tax. Metro Cities opposes exempting specific classes of property under the tax as such exemptions shift the costs of the tax onto other classes of property. 1-L Class Rate Tax System Metro Cities opposes elimination of the class rate tax system, or applying future levy increases to market value, since this would further complicate the property tax system. 1-M Regional Facility Host Communities Municipalities hosting regional facilities (such as utilities, landfills or aggregate mining) incur costs and community impacts such as environmental damage or lost economic development opportunities. Communities should be compensated for the impacts of these facilities, which provide benefits to the region and state. Metro Cities supports legislative efforts to offset the negative impacts of these facilities and activities on host communities. Metro Cities would prefer that cities and townships be allowed to collect a host fee that may be adjusted when state decisions impact those fees. 1-N Sales Tax on Local Government Purchases Metro Cities supports the reinstatement of the sales tax exemption for purchases of goods and services made by cities. To ensure that citizens receive the full benefit of this exemption, the law should treat purchases of all local government units the same, including purchases made by special taxing districts,joint powers entities, or any other agency or instrumentality of local government. In 2015, the Legislature delayed the effective date of the exemption for purchases by joint powers entities, housing and economic development authorities and other special 2017 Legislative Policies 6