04-14-2011 Charter Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Under the overall levy limitation law, all special levy claims must be pre -approved by the Department of Revenue. To accomplish this, the Payable 2011 PT Form 280 must be completed and submitted to the Department of Revenue on or before September 30, 2010. The Department of Revenue will review the special levy claims and report back to the county or levy limit city by December 10, 2010 the amount of the approved special levies. The Department's decision on special levies approved (whether in the amount claimed or at a reduced level) or denied is final. No county or levy limit city will be allowed to levy more than the sum of its levy limitation and approved special levies. The Department of Revenue will also certify to the county auditors, on or before December 28, 2010, the sum of the levy limit and the approved special levies for the county and for each levy limit city within the county. If a final levy certified to the county auditor exceeds the sum of the levy limitation plus approved special levies, the county auditor must reduce the certified final levy to the sum of the levy limitation plus approved special levies. Please note that all special levies relate to the amount of property taxes levied for the costs that may be described. For example, the special levy for the wages and benefits for sheriff, police, and fire personnel is not equal to the total wages and benefits of those personnel, but only the share of those wages and benefits for which a levy is made. For more details on the special levies please refer to the instructions for the PT Form 280 when those are made available. Levy Authority Please note that the levy limits apply to counties and levy -limit cities, but not to special taxing districts. At times, the levies for a housing and redevelopment authority (HRA), or an economic development authority (EDA), or other "districts" may truly be levies of the county or city for the benefit of those districts, and in other situations those levies may be the levies of those authorities as a special taxing district. Please refer to M.S. § 275.066 to identify special taxing districts, and please give close attention to the statutes under which levies are authorized to determine if the levies should be included in the levy of county or city, or separated as a special taxing district. These distinctions should already be made each year when certifying levies to the county auditor. Consolidations, Annexations, Transfers of Functions The overall levy limitation law provides for special levy limit adjustments for consolidations, annexations, and transfers of governmental functions that are effective on or before June 30 of the levy year. Specifically, these include the following adjustments: • If all of the area included in two or more local governmental units are consolidated or merged into one single governmental unit, the levy limit base of the resulting governmental unit in the first levy year that the consolidation is effective is equal to the highest tax rate of any of the merging governmental units for the previous levy year multiplied by the total net tax capacity of the merging governmental units for the previous levy year, minus the sum of their special levies for the previous levy year. • If a city increases its tax base through a partial annexation of another governmental unit, and the annexed area contains a population of 50 or more persons, the levy limit base of the city for the first levy year in which the annexation is effective (before the adjusted 3