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-20- City E-mail Address Required to Receive State Aid – Effective for state aids payable in 2018 and thereafter, cities will be required to register an official e-mail address with the Commissioner of the state Department of Revenue in order to receive state aid payments. Workforce Housing Tax Increment Financing – The omnibus tax bill created a new authorized use of tax increment financing (TIF), for workforce housing in cities located outside of the statutorily defined metropolitan area that meet certain criteria. Tax Increment Financing Interfund Loans – Interfund loan provisions for TIF were amended to make it easier for cities and development authorities to make and document interfund loans. Loans may now be made or documented up to 60 days after the actual transfer or expenditure occurs. Interfund loan resolutions may now be passed prior to the final approval of the related TIF plan. Loan terms may be amended after the loan has been made if the TIF district has not been decertified. Public Debt – The Legislature passed several amendments to statutes governing public debt that took effect on July 1, 2017, including: • Allowing both home rule charter and statutory cities to issue 20-year capital notes for projects to eliminate R-22 Freon-based refrigerant; • Increasing the maximum dollar limit on Housing and Redevelopment Authority general obligation bond issues from $3 million to $5 million; and • Modifying the requirements for street reconstruction bonds to be approved by a two -thirds majority of the governing body rather than requiring unanimous approval. Local Housing Trust Funds – The omnibus jobs and economic growth appropriations bill established authority for cities to create a local housing trust fund by ordinance, or to participate in a joint powers agreement to establish a regional housing trust fund. The funds, which may be financed from sources such as local government appropriations or housing and redevelopment authority levies, may be used for grants or loans for development, rehabilitation, financing of housing to match federal or state or private funds for housing, down payment assistance, rental assistance, or homebuyer counseling. Long-Term Equity Investment Authority – Effective July 1, 2017, cities with a population of more than 100,000 or those that had their most recently issued general obligation bonds rated in the highest category, are authorized to invest in an expanded list of authorized investments that includes certain equity-based investments. The amount invested in equity-based investments cannot exceed 15 percent of the sum of a city’s assigned cash, cash equivalents, deposits, and investments. Before investing in the expanded list of authorized investments, the governing body of the municipality must adopt a resolution acknowledging the risks assumed. Border-to-Border Broadband Grants – The Legislature appropriated $20 million in fiscal 2018 for the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. The grants, available through the Office of Broadband Development in the Department of Employment and Economic Development, provide funding to help communities meet state goals for the development of state-wide, high-speed broadband access, focusing on areas currently considered to be underserved or with a high concentration of low-income households. Elections – An omnibus elections law was passed making several modifications to election administration, including: requiring special elections conducted by local governments be held on one of five uniform election dates, clarifying the timeline for municipalities to change from o dd to even-year election cycles or vise-versa, allowing municipalities to canvass the results of a primary election on the second or third day after the primary, and appropriating $7 million for grants to replace aging election equipment or purchase electronic poll books.