Property Tax Division wraps up its report, calls it a session

After spending almost three months deep in the heart of taxes, the House Property Tax Division put the finishing touches on its report Wednesday and adjourned for the year, barring any unforeseen business.

HF1735, sponsored by Rep. Cheryl Youakim (DFL-Hopkins), was replaced by a delete-all amendment, further amended, approved 11-2 by the division and referred to the House Taxes Committee for possible omnibus bill inclusion.

The bill would increase tax refunds for both homeowners and renters, and allow 17 municipalities or counties to levy local sales taxes to pay for specific projects, if their voters approve. Nine more municipalities would receive authority to establish tax increment financing districts, while all recently approved TIF districts would have their five-year redevelopment windows expanded to 10 years. In addition, cities, counties and towns would be permitted to establish tourism improvement districts.

A few provisions presented at Monday’s walkthrough of the bill were altered or removed by amendments.

A Youakim amendment changed language on energy improvement assessments to apply only to buildings of five units or more, while a depreciation calculation for wind and solar energy conversion systems was deleted altogether when the Revenue Department suggested that other legislation would be required to make it possible.

Language in the original bill dealing with tribal-owned property in Cass County was changed to reflect a new agreement between the involved parties. The Revenue Department also advised that a section of the bill on manufactured home park cooperatives should be more limited in scope, so some provisions were removed.

No current companion exists, as the Senate Subcommittee on Property Taxes continues to consider legislation.