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Municipal Revenue & Taxation <br />Metro Cities opposes elimination of the class rate tax system or applying future <br />levy increases to market value since this further complicates the property tax <br />system. <br />1-M Regional Facility Host Communities <br />Municipalities hosting regional facilities (such as utilities, landfills or aggregate mining) incur <br />costs and community effects such as environmental damage or lost economic development <br />opportunities. Communities should be compensated to accommodate the effects of these <br />facilities that provide benefits to the region and state. Metro Cities supports legislative <br />efforts to offset the negative impacts of these facilities and activities on host communities. <br />Metro Cities would prefer that cities and townships be allowed to collect a host fee that may <br />be adjusted when state decisions impact those fees. <br />1-N Sales Tax on Local Government Purchases <br />Metro Cities supports the reinstatement of the sales tax exemption for purchases of <br />goods and services made by cities. <br />To ensure that citizens receive the full benefit of this exemption, the law should treat <br />purchases of all local government units the same, including purchases made by special taxing <br />districts, joint powers entities, or any other agency or instrumentality of local government. <br />Metro Cities supports granting an extension of the motor vehicle sales tax exemption to <br />all municipal vehicles that are used for general city functions and are provided by <br />governmental entities. Currently, only certain vehicles, including road maintenance <br />vehicles purchased by townships, and municipal fire trucks and police vehicles not <br />registered for use on public roads, are exempt from the MVST. <br />Metro Cities supports simplifying the process around the exemption for construction <br />materials, which is currently complex and cost ineffective, or converting the process <br />to a refund program. <br />1-0 City Revenue Stability and Fund Balance <br />Metro Cities opposes state attempts to control or restrict city fund balances. These <br />funds are necessary to maintain fiscal viability, meet unexpected or emergency <br />resource needs, purchase capital goods and infrastructure, provide adequate cash flow <br />and maintain high level bond ratings. <br />1-P Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) <br />Metro Cities supports employees and cities sharing equally in the cost of necessary <br />contribution increases and a sixty percent employer/forty percent employee split for the <br />2018 Legislative Policies <br />6 <br />