01-08-2025 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MR-22 PROCEEDS FROM TAX FORFEITED PROPERTY MR-23 DEPUTY REGISTRARS Metro Cities supports city authority to collect payments from tax exempt property owners to cover costs of services to those entities, similar to statutory authority for special assessments. Metro Cities opposes legislation that would exempt nonprofit entities from paying user fees and service charges. Metro Cities supports changes to state laws governing the proceeds for tax forfeited properties. Currently, counties can recover administrative costs related to a property before other allocations are made, and the law allows for the county to recoup a percentage of assessment costs once administrative costs are allocated. The result is often no allocation or a very low allocation, and usually insufficient level of proceeds available for covering special assessments, unpaid taxes, and fees to cities. State processes addressing tax-forfeited properties can have implications for local land use plans and requirements and can result in unexpected and significant fiscal impacts on local communities. The current process also does not require the repayment of unpaid utility charges or building and development fees. Metro Cities supports statutory changes that balance repayment of unpaid taxes and assessments, utility charges and other fees and that more equitably allocates the distribution of proceeds between counties and cities. In 2019, state officials elected to replace the MNLARS system with the Vehicle Title and Registration System (VTRS), also known as MNDRIVE. A 2022 Independent Expert Review found that the MNDRIVE system has increased overall reliability and accuracy across the driver and vehicle services ecosystem, but that deputy registrars are still experiencing difficulties that threaten their continued viability. Specifically, the transition to MNDRIVE has meant that more work is being done at service point counters and more staff time is being spent with customers. At the same time, simpler transactions have moved online. Some registrar offices have relied on other local revenues, such as the property tax, to manage normal expenses due to unresolved glitches in the system and a shift from the state to the local level for additional processing time. These challenges have also created a high potential for negative public perceptions on local government services, on an issue over which local governments have no ability to control. Metro Cities supports state funding to compensate local deputy registrars for unanticipated, increased costs associated with the MNDRIVE system, and the shifting of per-transaction processing burdens that may result from the implementation of MNDRIVE. MR-21 PAYMENTS FOR SERVICES TO TAX EXEMPT PROPERTY 11