piers109uk/MN-Statutes huggingface dataset:
270C.85 ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY TAX LAWS; POWERS AND DUTIES.
The commissioner shall have and exercise general supervision over the administration of the property tax laws, assessors, town, county, and city boards of review and equalization, and all other assessing officers in the performance of their duties, to the end that all assessments of property be made relatively just and equal in compliance with the laws of the state.
The commissioner shall have and exercise the following powers and duties in administering the property tax laws:
(1) confer with, advise, and give the necessary instructions and directions to local assessors and local boards of review throughout the state as to their duties under the laws of the state;
(2) direct proceedings, actions, and prosecutions to be instituted to enforce the laws relating to the liability and punishment of public officers and officers and agents of corporations for failure or negligence to comply with the provisions of the property tax laws, and cause complaints to be made against local assessors, members of boards of equalization, members of boards of review, or any other assessing or taxing officer, to the proper authority, for their removal from office for misconduct or negligence of duty;
(3) require county attorneys to assist in the commencement of prosecutions in actions or proceedings for removal, forfeiture, and punishment, for violation of the property tax laws in their respective districts or counties;
(4) require town, city, county, and other public officers to report and certify information, at the parcel level or in the aggregate, as to the assessment and taxation of real and personal property, and such other information as may be needful in the work of the commissioner. The commissioner shall prescribe the content, format, manner, and time of filing of all required reports and certifications;
(5) transmit to the governor, on or before the third Monday in December of each even-numbered year, and to each member of the legislature, on or before November 15 of each even-numbered year, the report of the department for the preceding years, showing all the taxable property subject to the property tax laws and the value of the same, in tabulated form;
(6) inquire into the methods of assessment and taxation and ascertain whether the assessors faithfully discharge their duties; and
(7) assist local assessors in determining the estimated market value of industrial special-use property. For purposes of this clause, "industrial special-use property" means property that:
(i) is designed and equipped for a particular type of industry;
(ii) is not easily adapted to some other use due to the unique nature of the facilities;
(iii) has facilities totaling at least 75,000 square feet in size; and
(iv) has a total estimated market value of $10,000,000 or greater based on the assessor's preliminary determination.
270C.87 REVISION OF MINNESOTA ASSESSORS' MANUAL.
In accordance with the provisions of section 270C.85, the commissioner shall periodically revise the Minnesota assessors' manual.
260.62 PURPOSES.
(a) The purposes of the Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act are to:
(1) protect the best interests of African American and disproportionately represented children;
(2) promote the stability and security of African American and disproportionately represented children and their families by establishing minimum standards to prevent the arbitrary and unnecessary removal of African American and disproportionately represented children from their families; and
(3) improve permanency outcomes, including family reunification, for African American and disproportionately represented children.
(b) Nothing in this legislation is intended to interfere with the protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, United States Code, title 25, sections 1901 to 1963, or the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, sections 260.751 to 260.835. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act apply in any child placement proceeding, as defined in section 260.755, subdivision 3, involving an Indian child, as defined in section 260.755, subdivision 8.
270C.88 ORDERS; DECISIONS.
Any order or decision of the commissioner increasing or decreasing any tax, assessment, or other obligation by a sum exceeding $1,000 on real or personal property, or the net tax capacity thereof, or other obligation relating thereto, the result of which is to increase or decrease the total amount payable under the property tax laws, including penalties and interest, by a sum exceeding $1,000, must bear the written signature or facsimile signature of the commissioner or the commissioner's delegate. Written approval of the commissioner or a delegate shall not be required with respect to orders reducing net tax capacity of property by reason of its classification as a homestead.
No action requiring the recommendation or approval of any county board or other public agency shall be taken by the commissioner, or any other employees or agents of the department, unless such recommendation or approval shall have been made upon official action by such county board or other agency, entered upon the minutes or record of its proceedings as a public record, showing the names of the taxpayers and other persons concerned and the amounts involved, and so certified by the recording officer of such board or agency.
270C.89 COUNTY ASSESSOR'S REPORTS OF ASSESSMENT FILED WITH COMMISSIONER.
Each county assessor shall file with the commissioner a copy of preliminary assessment information that the commissioner may require under section 270C.85, subdivision 2, clause (4), that will be acted upon by the local and county boards of review. The assessor of each county in the state shall file with the commissioner, within ten working days following final action of the local board of review or equalization and within five days following final action of the county board of equalization, any changes made by the local or county board.
The final assessment information after adjustments by the State Board of Equalization and inclusion of any omitted property shall be reported to the commissioner under section 270C.85, subdivision 2, clause (4).
260.641 ENSURING FREQUENT VISITATION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN AND DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED CHILDREN IN OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT.
A responsible social services agency must engage in best practices related to visitation when an African American or a disproportionately represented child is in out-of-home placement. When the child is in out-of-home placement, the responsible social services agency shall make active efforts to facilitate regular and frequent visitation between the child and the child's parents or custodians, the child's siblings, and the child's relatives. If visitation is infrequent between the child and the child's parents, custodians, siblings, or relatives, the responsible social services agency shall make active efforts to increase the frequency of visitation and address any barriers to visitation.
275.079 COUNTY AUDITOR TO CALCULATE TAX RATE.
The county auditor shall calculate the tax rate necessary to raise the required amount of the various taxes on the net tax capacity of all property as returned by the commissioner and the State Board of Equalization.
260.65 NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS; RELATIVE PLACEMENT.
(a) Prior to the removal of an African American or a disproportionately represented child from the child's home, the responsible social services agency must make active efforts to identify and locate the child's noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent and the child's relatives to notify the child's parent and relatives that the child is or will be placed in foster care, and provide the child's parent and relatives with a list of legal resources. The notice to the child's noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent and relatives must also include the information required under section 260C.221, subdivision 2, paragraph (b). The responsible social services agency must maintain detailed records of the agency's efforts to notify parents and relatives under this section.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 260C.219, the responsible social services agency must assess an African American or a disproportionately represented child's noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent's ability to care for the child before placing the child in foster care. If a child's noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent is willing and able to provide daily care for the African American or disproportionately represented child temporarily or permanently, the court shall order that the child be placed in the home of the noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent pursuant to section 260C.178 or 260C.201, subdivision 1. The responsible social services agency must make active efforts to assist a noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent with remedying any issues that may prevent the child from being placed with the noncustodial or nonadjudicated parent.
(c) The relative search, notice, engagement, and placement consideration requirements under section 260C.221 apply under this act.
270C.91 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS CHANGING NET TAX CAPACITY; DUTIES OF COUNTY AUDITOR.
A record of all proceedings of the commissioner affecting any change in the net tax capacity of any property, as revised by the State Board of Equalization, shall be kept by the commissioner and a copy thereof, duly certified, shall be mailed each year to the auditor of each county wherein such property is situated, on or before June 30. This record shall specify the amounts or amount, or both, added to or deducted from the net tax capacity of the real property of each of the several towns and cities, and of the real property not in towns or cities, also the percent or amount of both, added to or deducted from the several classes of personal property in each of the towns and cities, and also the amount added to or deducted from the assessment of any person. The county auditor shall add to or deduct from such tract or lot, or portion thereof, of any real property in the county the required percent or amount, or both, on the net tax capacity thereof as it stood after equalized by the county board, adding in each case a fractional sum of 50 cents or more, and deducting in each case any fractional sum of less than 50 cents, so that no net tax capacity of any separate tract or lot shall contain any fraction of a dollar; and add to, or deduct from, the several classes of personal property in the county the required percent or amount, or both, on the net tax capacity thereof as it stood after equalized by the county board, adding or deducting in manner aforesaid any fractional sum so that no net tax capacity of any separate class of personal property shall contain a fraction of a dollar, and add to or deduct from assessment of any person, as they stood after equalization by the county board, the required amounts to agree with the assessments as returned by the commissioner.
270C.92 IMPROPER OR NEGLIGENT ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY TAX LAWS.
The commissioner shall receive complaints and examine all cases where it is alleged that property subject to taxation has not been assessed or has been fraudulently or for any reason improperly or unequally assessed, or the law in any manner evaded or violated, and cause to be instituted such proceedings as will remedy improper or negligent administration of the property tax laws.
In administering the property tax laws, the commissioner shall raise or lower the market value of any real or personal property, including the power to raise or lower the market value of the real or personal property of any person; provided, that before any such assessment against the property of any person is so raised, notice of an intention to raise such market value and of the time and place at which a hearing thereon will be held shall be given to such person, by mail, addressed to the person at the place of residence listed upon the assessment book, at least five days before the day of such hearing.
All relevant and material evidence concerning the market value of the real or personal property shall be submitted at the hearing, and the hearing shall not be a "contested case" within the meaning of section 14.02, subdivision 3. The person notified of the hearing, or any other person having an interest in the property, may present evidence and argument bearing upon the market value of the property.
A property owner, other than a public utility or mining company, for which the original assessments are determined by the commissioner, may not appear before the commissioner for the purposes provided in subdivision 1 or 2 unless a timely appearance in person, by counsel, or by written communication has been made before the county board of equalization as provided in section 274.13, to appeal the assessment of the property, or that the property owner can establish not receiving notice of market value at least five days before the local board of review meeting.
The commissioner may refuse to hear an appeal that is within the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Division of the Tax Court as stated in section 271.21, subdivision 2. The property owner shall be notified by the commissioner of the right to appeal to the Small Claims Division whenever an appeal to the commissioner is denied.
270C.922 MUNICIPALITY MAY REQUEST TAX HEARING.
Any municipality may, at any time within ten days after the final adjournment of the county board of equalization of the county in which the municipality is located or within ten days after the filing with the auditor of such county of any order of the commissioner reducing the net tax capacity of any property in the municipality, file a written request with the commissioner for a hearing under section 270C.92 upon the equalization or assessment of any property within the municipality, specifying the property and the name and address of the owner thereof, as they appear from the assessment books. The commissioner shall then order a hearing and mail a notice stating the time and place of the hearing to the municipality and to the owner of the property. It shall be the duty of the commissioner, at the time of a hearing, to grant the municipality, at its request, such further reasonable time as may be necessary for the municipality to prepare for further hearing.
270C.921 MUNICIPALITY MAY BE PARTY TO TAX HEARING.
Any city, town, school district, or county (all of which governmental subdivisions shall be embraced in the word "municipality" as used in sections 270C.921 to 270C.928) may appear at and become a party to any proceedings before the commissioner under section 270C.92 held for the purpose of equalizing or assessing any real or personal property in the municipality, or reducing the net tax capacity of any such property. For that purpose the municipality may employ counsel and disburse money for other expenses in connection with the proceedings, on duly itemized, verified claims, which shall be audited and allowed as now provided by law for the allowance of claims against a municipality. It shall be the duty of the commissioner, at the time of a hearing, to grant the municipality, at its request, any further reasonable time as may be necessary for the municipality to prepare for further hearing. Before granting any reduction in net tax capacity exceeding $100,000, it shall be the duty of the commissioner, when any taxpayer or property owner has applied to the commissioner after June 30, 1983, for a reduction of the net tax capacity of any real or personal property in an amount exceeding $100,000, to give written notice to the officials of the municipality where the property is located and to permit the municipality to have reasonable opportunity to be heard at any proceedings concerning such reduction.
260.69 CULTURAL COMPETENCY TRAINING FOR INDIVIDUALS WORKING WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN AND DISPROPORTIONATELY REPRESENTED CHILDREN.
The commissioner of children, youth, and families must collaborate with the Children's Justice Initiative to ensure that cultural competency training is given to individuals working in the child welfare system, including child welfare workers and supervisors. Training must also be made available to attorneys, juvenile court judges, and family law judges.
(a) The commissioner must develop training content and establish the frequency of trainings for child welfare workers and supervisors.
(b) The cultural competency training under this section is required prior to or within six months of beginning work with any African American or disproportionately represented child and their family. A responsible social services agency staff person who is unable to complete the cultural competency training prior to working with African American or disproportionately represented children and their families must work with a qualified staff person within the agency who has completed cultural competency training until the person is able to complete the required training. The training must be available by January 1, 2027, and must:
(1) be provided by an African American individual or individual from a community that is disproportionately represented in the child welfare system who is knowledgeable about African American and other disproportionately represented social and cultural norms and historical trauma;
(2) raise awareness and increase a person's competency to value diversity, conduct a self-assessment, manage the dynamics of difference, acquire cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of communities served;
(3) include instruction on effectively developing a safety plan and instruction on engaging a safety network; and
(4) be accessible and comprehensive and include the ability to ask questions.
(c) The training may be provided in a series of segments, either in person or online.
The commissioner must provide an update to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over child protection by January 1, 2028, on the rollout of the training under subdivision 1 and the content and accessibility of the training under subdivision 2.
270C.923 WITNESSES SUMMONED.
In any hearing before the commissioner under section 270C.92, the commissioner shall, upon the request of a municipality or any other party to the proceedings, issue subpoenas and summon witnesses to appear and give testimony, and to produce books, records, papers, and documents. For the purpose of preparing for and participating in a hearing the municipality shall have access to, and use of, all the data, records, and files of the commissioner pertaining to the property in question. Upon demand of any party a record shall be kept by the commissioner of all evidence offered or received at a hearing, the cost thereof to be paid by the party making such demand.
270C.924 FINDINGS OF FACT AND ORDER; APPEALS.
For hearings held under section 270C.92, the commissioner shall determine the controversy upon the evidence produced at the hearing and shall make and file written findings of fact and an order determining the controversy. In the equalization and determination of net tax capacities, the findings and net tax capacities as given by the assessor of the local assessment district shall be considered as prima facie correct. Copies of the order and findings shall be mailed to all parties appearing at the hearing and to the auditor of the county in which the property is located.
Any municipality which has appeared in the proceedings, and which is aggrieved by the order of the commissioner reducing the net tax capacity of any of the property, or failing to increase the net tax capacity, may have the order of the commissioner reviewed by appeal to the court of appeals, on either of the following grounds: (1) that the determination of the commissioner was not in accordance with the property tax laws, or that the commissioner committed any other error of law; or (2) that the findings of fact and determination of net tax capacity were unwarranted by or were contrary to the weight of the evidence.
Any owner of property who has appeared in the proceedings and who is aggrieved by the order of the commissioner raising the net tax capacity of the property, or failing to reduce the net tax capacity, may have the order of the commissioner reviewed on appeal to the court of appeals in like manner and upon the same grounds as provided for review on the appeal of any municipality.
270C.925 NOTICE OF APPEAL.
To secure review of a determination made by the commissioner under section 270C.924, the municipality shall, within 30 days after mailing of notice of the determination, serve upon the commissioner a notice of appeal to the court of appeals from the order of the commissioner and file the original, with proof of service, with the clerk of the appellate courts, paying the filing fee provided by law for appeals in civil actions. The filing of the notice of appeal shall vest the court with jurisdiction and the appeal shall be heard and disposed of as in other civil cases.
The court shall reverse or affirm the order of the commissioner or remand the cause to the commissioner for a new hearing or further proceedings or for other disposition, with further directions as the court deems proper.
260.751 CITATION.
Sections 260.751 to 260.835 may be cited as the "Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act."
270C.926 APPEAL DOES NOT STAY COLLECTION.
The institution of any appeal under sections 270C.924 and 270C.925 from the order of the commissioner does not stay any proceedings for the assessment or collection of taxes against the property involved therein. Notwithstanding such appeal, the commissioner shall file with the auditor of the county in which such property is situated an order confirming, increasing, decreasing, or determining the net tax capacity thereof, and the county auditor shall extend and levy against such property, or the owner thereof, the taxes thereupon for such year according to such assessment, and all subsequent proceedings for the determination of the taxes and the collection thereof shall be taken as if no appeal from such order were pending. When the matter is finally determined on review a properly authenticated copy of the findings, order, or judgment shall be filed with the auditor of the county in which the land or property referred to in the proceedings is situated. If such order or judgment lowers the net tax capacity of the land or property referred to in the proceedings, the commissioner, upon petition of the owner, approved by the county board, shall abate so much of the taxes against such property as is attributable to the excessive net tax capacity thereof. If such tax has been paid, the county auditor, upon petition of the owner, approved by the county board and the commissioner, shall refund so much of such payment as is attributable to such excess net tax capacity. Upon such refund being made the county auditor shall charge the same to the state and the various governmental subdivisions thereof that participated in such excessive payment, in proportion to their respective shares therein, and deduct the same in the next tax apportionment.
270C.927 INCREASE IN NET TAX CAPACITY; ADDITIONAL TAXES.
If the final order and judgment in a hearing before the commissioner under section 270C.92, or any appeal thereof, result in raising the net tax capacity of the property affected by the proceedings, the county officers shall, for the next ensuing year, in addition to the regular taxes levied for such ensuing year, levy, extend, and spread against such property, if real property, or against the owner thereof, if personal property, a tax equal to the difference between the taxes actually levied and extended against such property, or owner, for the year in question and the taxes which should have been levied or extended against such property, or owner, at the increased net tax capacity as finally determined.
260.752 APPLICABILITY.
Unless otherwise stated, sections 260.751 to 260.835 and the federal Indian Child Welfare Act are applicable without exception in any child placement proceeding involving an Indian child where custody is granted to someone other than a parent or an Indian custodian. Nothing in sections 260.751 to 260.835 is intended to apply to custody actions between parents or between a parent and Indian custodian.
260.753 PURPOSES.
The purposes of the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act are to (1) protect the long-term interests, as defined by the Tribes, of Indian children, their families as defined by law or custom, and the child's Tribe; and (2) preserve the Indian family and Tribal identity, including an understanding that Indian children are damaged if family and child Tribal identity and contact are denied. Indian children are the future of the Tribes and are vital to their very existence.
270C.928 PROCEEDINGS TO DETERMINE NET TAX CAPACITY.
The proceedings provided in sections 270C.92 to 270C.927 are for determining the net tax capacity upon the basis of which taxes are spread against property, or its owner, in the first instance. The order of the commissioner, or the final order for judgment of the court of appeals on it, shall not be a bar to any defense against the taxes interposed at the time of the proceedings for judgment on them. All defenses which may be set up against the proceedings for judgment upon the taxes may be asserted notwithstanding the determination of the commissioner or the court. If the taxes are levied or extended pending review of the order of the commissioner by the court, a judgment entered upon the taxes in the tax delinquency proceedings shall not be a bar to the spreading of further taxes against the property for that year, in the event the net tax capacity of the property is raised as herein provided. In the proceedings for the collection of any taxes which include an additional levy because of the raising of the net tax capacity of any property, the owner may answer separately to the proceedings to obtain judgment for the excess levy.
260.754 POLICY ON TRIBAL-STATE RELATIONS.
(a) The state of Minnesota acknowledges federally recognized Indian Tribes as sovereign political entities that predate the existence of the United States and that have retained inherent sovereign authority to pass their own laws, maintain their own systems of governance, and determine their own jurisdiction. The sovereign authority of Tribes may only be limited by the federal government and not by any action of the state, including the state legislature and state courts.
(b) Inherently, as members of Indian Tribes recognized by the federal government, Indian people have rights and privileges as members of their Tribe which the state of Minnesota recognizes and protects.
(c) Indian people have a right to be protected from being disfranchised or deprived of any of the rights and privileges secured to any citizen in the state and to have the recognition and protection of the rights and privileges flowing from their membership in an Indian Tribe by any state action.
(d) The state of Minnesota recognizes all federally recognized Indian Tribes as having the inherent authority to determine their own jurisdiction for any and all Indian child custody or child placement proceedings regardless of whether the Tribe's members are on or off the reservation and regardless of the procedural posture of the proceeding.
(e) The state of Minnesota has long recognized the importance of Indian children to their Tribes not only as members of Tribal families and communities, but also as the Tribe's greatest resource as future members and leaders of the Tribe. The vitality of Indian children in the state of Minnesota is essential to the health and welfare of both the state and the Tribes and is essential to the future welfare and continued existence of the child's Tribe.
(f) The state of Minnesota recognizes that the historical deprivation of rights of Indian people and Indian Tribes has led to disparate out-of-home placement of Indian children.
270C.94 PROPERTY OMITTED OR UNDERVALUED; REASSESSMENT; APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL ASSESSOR.
When it shall be made to appear to the commissioner, by complaint or by the finding of a court or of the legislature, or either body of the legislature, or any committee of the legislature, or any city council or county board, that any considerable amount of property has been improperly omitted from the tax list or assessment roll of any district or county for any year, or, if assessed, that the same has been undervalued or overvalued, as compared with like property in the same county or in the state so that the assessment for such year in such district or county is grossly unfair and inequitable, whether or not the same has been equalized by the county board of equalization or the commissioner, the commissioner shall examine into the facts in the matter and, if satisfied that it would be for the best interests of the state that a reassessment of such property be made, the commissioner shall appoint a special assessor and such deputy assessors as may be necessary and cause a reassessment to be made of all or any of the real and personal property, or either, in any such district or county as the commissioner may deem best, to the end that all property in such district or county shall be assessed equitably as compared with like property in such district or county.
The commissioner shall appoint a special assessor and deputies and cause to be made, in any year, a reassessment of all or any real and personal property, or either, in any assessment district, when in the commissioner's judgment such reassessment is desirable or necessary, to the end that any and all property in such district shall be assessed equitably as compared with like property in the county wherein such district is situated.
When an assessor has failed to properly appraise at least one-fifth of the parcels of property in a district or county as provided in section 273.01, the commissioner may appoint a special assessor and deputy assessor as necessary and cause a reappraisal to be made of the property due for reassessment in accordance with law.
270C.95 QUALIFICATION OF ASSESSORS; REASSESSMENT, HOW MADE.
Every special assessor and deputy appointed under the provisions of section 270C.94 shall subscribe and file with the commissioner an oath to faithfully and fairly perform the duties of office. Such special assessor, assisted by deputies, shall thereupon proceed to carefully examine and reassess the property so to be reassessed and prepare duplicate lists of such reassessment in such form as the commissioner may prescribe, showing the property or person so reassessed, the amount of the original assessment thereof made in such year, and opposite the same the reassessment so made by such special assessor. The special assessor shall file both copies of such list with the commissioner; and the commissioner shall thereupon examine, equalize, and correct such reassessment so as to substantially conform with the assessment of like property throughout the state and transmit to the auditor of the county wherein such reassessment was so made one copy of such reassessment by the commissioner so corrected and equalized. Such list shall for all purposes supersede and be in place of the original assessment made for such year upon such property and the county auditor, upon receipt thereof, shall extend and levy against such property so reassessed the taxes thereon for such year according to such reassessment in the same manner as though such list was the original assessment list of such property. Any person feeling aggrieved by an assessment so made against the person, or upon any property at that time owned by the person, may appeal therefrom to the district court of the county in which such assessment is made. To render the appeal effective for any purpose, the appellant shall file a notice of the appeal with the auditor of such county within 30 days after the making of the assessment, which notice shall specify the ground upon which the appeal was taken, and no other or different service shall be required to perfect it. Upon the filing of the notice the county auditor shall make and file in the office of the court administrator of the district court a certified copy of the notice and of the particular assessment appealed from and notify the county attorney of such county of the pendency of the appeal. Thereupon the district court shall be deemed to have acquired jurisdiction of the matter and proceed to hear and determine it in like manner as other tax matters are tried and determined in the district courts of this state. The county attorney of such county shall appear for and defend the interests of the state in such matter.
270.80 DEFINITIONS.
The following words and phrases when used in sections 270.80 to 270.87, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the meanings ascribed to them in this section.
"Railroad company" means:
(1) any company which as a common carrier operates a railroad or a line or lines of railway situated within or partly within Minnesota; or
(2) any company owning or operating, other than as a common carrier, a railway principally used for transportation of taconite concentrates from the plant at which the taconite concentrates are produced in shipping form to a point of consumption or port for shipment beyond the state; or
(3) any company that produces concentrates from taconite and transports that taconite in the course of the concentrating process and before the concentrating process is completed to a concentrating plant located within the state over a railroad that is not a common carrier and shall not use a common carrier or taconite railroad company as defined in clause (2) for the movement of the concentrate to a point of consumption or port for shipment beyond the state.
"Operating property" means all property owned or used by a railroad company in the performance of railroad transportation services, including without limitation franchises, rights-of-way, bridges, trestles, shops, docks, wharves, buildings and structures.
"Nonoperating property" means and includes all property other than property defined in subdivision 3. Nonoperating property shall include real property which is leased or rented or available for lease or rent to any person which is not a railroad company. Vacant land shall be presumed to be available for lease or rent if it has not been used as operating property for a period of one year preceding the valuation date. Nonoperating property also includes land which is not necessary and integral to the performance of railroad transportation services and which is not used on a regular and continual basis in the performance of these services. Nonoperating property also includes that portion of a general corporation office building and its proportionate share of land which is not used for railway operation or purpose.
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of revenue.
270C.96 REASSESSMENT; COMPENSATION; REIMBURSEMENT BY COUNTIES.
The compensation of each special assessor and deputies, appointed under the provisions of section 270C.94 and the expenses as such, shall be fixed by the commissioner and paid out of money appropriated for operation of the department. The commissioner on August 1 shall notify the auditor of each affected county of the amount thereof paid on behalf of such county since August 1 of the preceding year, whereupon the county auditor shall levy a tax upon the taxable property in the assessment district or districts wherein such reassessment was made sufficient to pay the same. One-half of such tax shall be levied in the year in which the commissioner so notifies the county auditor and the remaining one-half shall be levied in the following year. The respective counties shall reimburse the state by paying one-half of the tax so assessed on or before July 1 and the remaining one-half on or before December 1 in the year in which the tax is payable, whether or not the tax was collected by the county. The reimbursement shall be credited to the general fund. If any county fails to reimburse the state within the time specified herein, the commissioner is empowered to order withholding of state aids or distributions to such county equal to the amount delinquent.
270.81 TAXATION AND ASSESSMENT OF RAILROAD COMPANY PROPERTY.
The operating property of every railroad company doing business in Minnesota shall be valued by the commissioner in the manner prescribed by sections 270.80 to 270.87.
The nonoperating property of every railroad company doing business in Minnesota shall be assessed as otherwise provided by law.
The commissioner shall have exclusive primary jurisdiction to determine what is operating property and what is nonoperating property. In making such determination, the commissioner shall solicit information and opinions from outside the department and afford all interested persons an opportunity to submit data or views on the subject in writing or orally. Local assessors may submit written requests to the commissioner, asking for a determination of the nature of specific property owned by a railroad and located within their assessing jurisdiction. Any determination made by the commissioner may be appealed by the assessor to the Tax Court pursuant to chapter 271.
In no event shall property owned or used by a railroad, whether operating property or nonoperating property, be subject to tax hereunder unless such property is of a character which would otherwise be subject to tax under the provisions of chapter 272.
MS 1988 [Repealed, 1Sp1989 c 1 art 9 s 85]
270C.97 OMITTED PROPERTY.
The commissioner shall require the county auditor to place upon the assessment rolls omitted property which may be discovered to have escaped assessment and taxation in previous years.
270.82 REPORTS OF RAILROAD COMPANIES.
Every railroad company doing business in Minnesota shall annually file with the commissioner on or before March 31 a report under oath setting forth the information prescribed by the commissioner to enable the commissioner to make the valuation and equalization required by sections 270.80 to 270.87. The commissioner shall prescribe the content, format, and manner of the report pursuant to section 270C.30, except that a "law administered by the commissioner" includes the property tax laws. If a report is made by electronic means, the taxpayer's signature is defined pursuant to section 270C.304, except that a "law administered by the commissioner" includes the property tax laws.
The commissioner for good cause may extend for up to 15 days the time for filing the report required by subdivision 1.
270C.98 SENIOR ACCREDITATION.
The legislature finds that the property tax system would be enhanced by requiring that every senior appraiser in the Property Tax Division of the department obtain senior accreditation from the State Board of Assessors. Every senior appraiser, including the department's regional representatives, and every county assessor within two years of the first appointment under section 273.061, must obtain senior accreditation from the State Board of Assessors. The board shall provide the necessary courses or training. If a department senior appraiser or regional representative fails to obtain or maintain senior accreditation, the failure shall be grounds for dismissal, disciplinary action, or corrective action. Except as provided in section 273.061, subdivision 2, paragraph (c), the commissioner must not approve the appointment of a county assessor who is not senior accredited by the State Board of Assessors. No employee hired by the commissioner as a senior appraiser or regional representative shall attain permanent status until the employee obtains senior accreditation.
260.7745 COUNTY AND TRIBAL AGREEMENTS; MALTREATMENT ASSESSMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS OF INDIAN CHILDREN.
A Tribe and a county may enter a written agreement transferring responsibility for the screening and initial response to a child maltreatment report regarding an Indian child residing in the county where the child's reservation is located, from the county to the Tribe. An agreement under this section shall include a provision clarifying whether the county or the Tribe is responsible for ongoing case management stemming from a child maltreatment report.
270.83 EXAMINATIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS.
The commissioner shall have the power to examine or cause to be examined any books, papers, records, or memoranda relevant to the determination of the valuation of operating property as herein provided. The commissioner shall have the further power to require the attendance of any person having knowledge or information in the premises, to compel the production of books, papers, records, or memoranda by persons so required to attend, to take testimony on matters material to such determination and administer oaths or affirmations.
For the purpose of making such examinations, the commissioner may appoint such persons as the commissioner may deem necessary. Such persons shall have the rights and powers of the examining of books, papers, records or memoranda, and of subpoenaing witnesses, administering oaths and affirmations, and taking of testimony, which are conferred upon the commissioner hereby. The court administrator of any court of record, upon demand of any such person, shall issue a subpoena for the attendance of any witness or the production of any books, papers, records, or memoranda before such person. The commissioner may also issue subpoenas for the appearance of witnesses before the commissioner or before such persons. Disobedience of subpoenas so issued shall be punished by the district court of the district in which the subpoena is issued for a contempt of the district court.
If any railroad company shall refuse or neglect to make the report required by this section to the commissioner, or shall refuse or neglect to permit an inspection and examination of its property, records, books, accounts or other papers when requested by the commissioner, or shall refuse or neglect to appear before the commissioner or a person appointed under subdivision 2 when required so to do, the commissioner shall make the valuation provided for by sections 270.80 to 270.87 against the railroad company according to the commissioner's best judgment on available information.
270C.99 CERTAIN TOWNSHIPS AND CITIES OPTION TO ELECT TO REINSTATE THE OFFICE OF ASSESSOR.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 273.05, subdivision 1, a city or township in which the office of assessor has been eliminated because of failure to fill a vacancy in the office within 90 days pursuant to section 273.05, subdivision 1, may elect, with the approval of the commissioner, to have the office of assessor reinstated by hiring a certified or accredited assessor. This section shall not apply to Ramsey County or to cities and townships located in counties which have elected a county assessment system in accordance with section 273.055.
270.84 ANNUAL VALUATION OF OPERATING PROPERTY.
The commissioner shall annually between March 31 and May 31 make a determination of the fair market value of the operating property of every railroad company doing business in this state as of January 2 of the year in which the valuation is made. In making this determination, the commissioner shall employ generally accepted appraisal principles and practices which may include the unit method of determining value.
The commissioner, after determining the fair market value of the operating property of each railroad company, shall give notice to the railroad company of the valuation by first class mail, overnight delivery, or messenger service.
270C.9901 ASSESSOR ACCREDITATION; WAIVER.
Every individual who appraises or physically inspects real property for the purpose of determining its valuation or classification for property tax purposes must obtain licensure as an accredited Minnesota assessor from the State Board of Assessors by July 1, 2022, or within five years of that person having become licensed as a certified Minnesota assessor, whichever is later.
(a) An individual may apply to the State Board of Assessors for a waiver from licensure as an accredited Minnesota assessor as required by subdivision 1 if the individual:
(1) was first licensed as a certified Minnesota assessor before July 1, 2004;
(2) has had an assessor license since July 1, 2004;
(3) has successfully passed a comprehensive examination substantially equivalent to the requirements by the State Board of Assessors for the accredited Minnesota assessor license designation before May 1, 2020; and
(4) submits an application to the State Board of Assessors no later than July 1, 2022.
The examination can only be taken once to fulfill the requirements of the waiver.
(b) The commissioner of revenue, in consultation with the State Board of Assessors and the Minnesota Association of Assessing Officers, must determine the contents of the waiver application and the comprehensive examination.
(c) A county assessor in any jurisdiction assessed by an applicant may submit additional information to the State Board of Assessors to be considered as part of the waiver review proceedings.
(d) The State Board of Assessors must not grant a waiver unless the applicant has met the requirements in paragraph (a) and has the ability to perform the duties of assessment required in each jurisdiction in which the applicant appraises or physically inspects real property for the purposes of determining its valuation or classification for property tax purposes.
(e) An individual granted a waiver under this subdivision is allowed to continue assessment duties at the individual's licensure level, provided the individual complies with the continuing education requirements for the accredited Minnesota assessor designation as prescribed by the State Board of Assessors.
(f) An individual granted a waiver under this section:
(1) is not considered to have achieved the designation as an accredited Minnesota assessor and may not represent himself or herself as an accredited Minnesota assessor; and
(2) is not authorized to value income-producing property as defined in section 273.11, subdivision 13, unless the individual meets the requirements of that section.
(g) A waiver granted by the State Board of Assessors under this section remains in effect unless the individual's licensure is revoked. If the individual's licensure is revoked, the waiver is void and the individual is subject to the requirements of subdivision 1.
(h) A decision of the State Board of Assessors to grant or deny a waiver under this subdivision is final and is not subject to appeal.
(i) Waivers granted under this subdivision expire on June 30, 2032.
(j) This subdivision expires July 1, 2032.
270.86 APPORTIONMENT AND EQUALIZATION OF VALUATION.
Upon determining the fair market value of the operating property of each railroad company, the commissioner shall apportion such value to the respective counties and to the taxing districts therein in conformity with fair and reasonable rules and standards to be established by the commissioner pursuant to notice and hearing, except as provided in section 270.81. In establishing such rules and standards the commissioner may consider (a) the physical situs of all station houses, depots, docks, wharves, and other buildings and structures with an original cost in excess of $10,000; (b) the proportion that the length and type of all the tracks used by the railroad in such county and taxing district bears to the length and type of all the track used in the state; and (c) other facts as will result in a fair and equitable apportionment of value.
After making the apportionment provided in subdivision 1, the commissioner shall determine the equalized valuation of the operating property in each county by applying to the apportioned value an estimated current year median sales ratio for all commercial and industrial property in that county. If the commissioner decides there are insufficient sales to determine a median commercial-industrial sales ratio, an estimated current year countywide median sales ratio for all property shall be applied to the apportioned value. No equalization shall be made to the market value of the operating property if the median sales ratio determined pursuant to this subdivision is within five percent of the assessment ratio of the railroad operating property.