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Honorable Mayor and City Council Members July 21, 2023 Page 2 2) At Any General Election The law should not be interpreted to provide that that ballot can be approved at any general election. "Any general election" could include a general election that does not include all of the voters of a City. For example, the City of Plymouth is served by both the Wayzata School District, which has odd -year general elections, and the Robbinsdale School District, which has even -year general elections. People living in Plymouth in the Robbinsdale School District do not have a general election in 2023, while the people living in Plymouth in the Wayzata School District do have a general election in 2023. 3) At A General Election At Which All City Voters Can Participate in A General Election Unlike Plymouth in the example above, in 2023, every voter in the City may participate in a "general election" in 2023 because the Mounds View School District is holding a general election in 2023. Minn. Stat. 297.99 does not define "general election" but Minnesota Election Law does and provides that a "general election" "means an election held at regular intervals on a day determined by law or charter at which the voters of the state or any of its subdivisions choose by ballot public officials or presidential electors."' Minnesota Election Law applies to all elections held in Minnesota, unless otherwise specifically provided by law.2 However, the definitions in Minnesota Election Law do not explicitly apply to interpreting Minn. Stat. 297.99. This is because the definitions in Minnesota Election Law apply to that law by explicit language3, while no such explicit language exists in Minn. Stat. 297.99. The important language in the Minnesota Election Law definition of a general election is "at regular intervals on a day determined by law or charter". This language creates the inference that the term "general election" applies to many types of "general elections", e.g., state, municipal, or school district.' III. Application to the City In order for the election to occur in 2023, the city must interpret the phrase "a general election" to mean any general election. Again, the governing phrase at question is: "Imposition of a local sales tax is subject to approval by voters of the political subdivision at a general election. The election must be conducted at a general election within the two-year period after the governing body of the political subdivision has received authority to impose the tax". ' See Minn. Stat. 200.02. 2 See Minn. Stat. 200.015. s See. Minn. Stat. 20.02, subd. 1: "The terms defined in this section apply to the Minnesota Election Law." ' The non -partisan Minnesota House Research Department's memo on Local Sales Taxes provides, in a footnote: "A general election means either the state general election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of an even - numbered year, or a regularly scheduled election for local public officials for that political subdivision." See Local Sales Taxes, Minnesota House Research Department, page 3 (October 2019). However, there is no legal basis provided for this statement. It is unclear what the House Research Department is relying upon to differentiate between statewide general elections and the general election of a school district. Minnesota House Research memos are not binding but if the statement in this memo is based off of some document, statement, or other item that a court could use to determine legislative intent, then its significant would be greater. MU210\315\886618.v5