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Attachment <br />Municipal Revenue & Taxation <br />supports statutory changes to further clarify that all lodging taxes, whether administered <br />by the state or locally, apply to total charges, including charges for services provided by <br />accommodation intermediaries. <br />1-WPayments for Services to Tax ExemptProperty <br />Metro Cities supports city authority to collect payments from tax exempt property owners <br />to cover the costs of services to those entities, similar to statutory authority for special <br />assessments. Metro Cities opposes legislation that would exempt nonprofit entities from <br />paying user fees and service charges. <br />1-XProceeds from Tax ForfeitedProperty <br />Metro Cities supports changes to state laws governing the proceeds for tax forfeited <br />properties. Currently, counties can recover administrative costs related to a property before <br />other allocations are made and the law allows for the county to recoup a percentage of <br />assessment costs once administrative costs are allocated. The result is often no allocation or a <br />very low allocation, and usually insufficient level of proceeds available for covering special <br />assessments, unpaid taxes and fees to cities. State processes addressing tax-forfeited properties <br />can have implications for local land use plans and requirements and can result in unexpected and <br />significant fiscal impacts on local communities. The current process also does not require the <br />repayment of unpaid utility charges or building and development fees. <br />Metro Cities supports statutory changes that balance repayment of unpaid taxes and <br />assessments, utility charges and other fees and that more equitably allocates the <br />distribution of proceeds between counties and cities. <br />1-YVehicle Title and Registration System(VTRS) <br />Issues associated with the rollout of the state MN Licensing and Registration System <br />(MNLARS) have caused significant unanticipated and ongoing disruptions to services provided <br />by local deputy registrars. Some registrar offices have relied on other local revenues, such as the <br />property tax, to manage normal expenses due to unresolved glitches in the system and a shift <br />from the state to the local level for additional processing time. These challenges have also <br />created a high potential for negative public perceptions on local government services, on anissue <br />over which local governments have no ability tocontrol. <br />In 2019, state officials elected to replace the MNLARS system with the Vehicle Title and <br />Registration System (VTRS). Metro Cities supports state funding to compensate local <br />deputy registrars for unanticipated, increased costs associated with implementation of the <br />new system, and the shifting of per-transaction processing burdens that may result from <br />the implementation of VTRS. <br />2021 Legislative Policies <br />ЊЉ <br /> <br />