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Municipal Revenue & Taxation <br />Metro Cities supports the use of the Department of Revenue's "Voss" database to <br />link income and property values, and the consideration of income relative to <br />property taxes paid in determining eligibility for state property tax relief programs. <br />Updates to the database should occur in a timely manner and data reviewed <br />periodically to ensure the database's accuracy and usefulness. <br />1-G Property Valuation Limits/Limited Market Value <br />Metro Cities strongly opposes the use of artificial limits in valuing property at market for <br />taxation purposes, since such limitations shift tax burdens to other classes of property <br />and create disparities between properties of equal value. <br />1-H Market Value Homestead Exclusion Program <br />The Market Value Homestead Exclusion Program (MVHE) provides property tax relief to <br />qualifying homesteads, through reductions in property tax values, which shifts property <br />taxes within jurisdictions. The MVHE replaced a former Market Value Homestead Credit <br />Program, which provided credits on local government tax bills to qualifying properties, <br />with reimbursements provided by the state to local governments. <br />Metro Cities opposes restoration of the former Market Value Homestead Credit, as <br />reimbursements to local governments were inconsistent, and encourages further study <br />of the exclusion program, with input by city officials, to determine the program's <br />overall efficacy and its effects on local tax bases. <br />1-1 Metropolitan Area Fiscal Disparities Program <br />The Metropolitan Area Fiscal Disparities Program, enacted in 1971, was created for the <br />purposes of: <br />• providing a way for local governments to share in the resources generated by the growth <br />of the metropolitan area without removing existing resources; <br />• promoting orderly development of the region by reducing the impact of fiscal <br />considerations on the location of business and infrastructure; <br />• establishing incentives for all parts of the area to work for the growth of the area as awhole; <br />• helping communities at various stages of development; and <br />• encouraging protection of the environment by reducing the impact of fiscal considerations <br />to ensure protection of parks, open space and wetlands. <br />Metro Cities supports the Fiscal Disparities Program. Metro Cities opposes any <br />diversion from the fiscal disparities pool to fund specific programs or projects as this <br />2018 Legislative Policies <br />4 <br />