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Municipal Revenue & Taxation <br />improves the long term balance of state revenues and expenditures. Metro Cities <br />supports a statutory budget reserve minimum that is adequate to manage risks and <br />fluctuations in the state's tax system and a cash flow reserve account of sufficient <br />size so that the state can avoid short term borrowing to manage cash flow <br />fluctuations. <br />Metro Cities also supports an examination of the property tax system and the <br />relationships between state and local tax bases, with an emphasis on state budget <br />cuts and their impact on property taxes. State budget deficits must be balanced with <br />statewide sources and must not further reduce funding for property tax relief programs <br />and aids to local governments that result in local governments bearing more <br />responsibility for the costs of services that belong to the state. <br />1-U Taxation of Electronic Commerce <br />Metro Cities supports efforts to develop a streamlined sales and use tax system to <br />simplify sales and use tax collection and administration by retailers and states. <br />Metro Cities supports policies that encourage remote retailers to collect and remit <br />state sales taxes in states that are complying with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax <br />Agreement. <br />Metro Cities opposes legislation that allows accommodation intermediaries such as <br />online travel companies a tax exemption that terminates obligations to pay hotel <br />taxes to state and local governments, or otherwise restricts legal actions by states <br />and localities. In 2011 the Legislature statutorily clarified that these services are <br />subject to state sales tax. Metro Cities supports additional statutory changes to <br />further clarify that all lodging taxes, whether administered by the state or locally, <br />apply to total charges, including charges for services provided by accommodation <br />intermediaries. <br />1-V Payments for Services to Tax Exempt Property <br />Metro Cities supports city authority to collect payments from tax exempt property <br />owners to cover the costs of services to those entities, similar to statutory authority <br />for special assessments. Metro Cities opposes legislation that would exempt non- <br />profit entities from paying user fees and service charges. <br />1-W Proceeds from Tax Forfeited Property <br />Metro Cities supports changes to state laws governing the proceeds around tax <br />forfeited properties. Currently, counties are allowed to recover administrative costs <br />related to a property before other allocations are made and the law allows for the county <br />to recoup a percentage of assessment costs once administrative costs are allocated. The <br />result is often a very low allocation and usually insufficient level of proceeds available <br />for covering special assessments, unpaid taxes and fees to cities. The current process also <br />8 2016 Legislative Policies <br />