The bill requires DOR to annually produce a comparative local government spending report from information DOR annually collects from counties, municipalities, and public officers regarding the collection of taxes, receipts from licenses, and the expenditure of public funds and to create and maintain a web page on its Internet site to display the information contained in the report.

The bill prohibits a local health officer from issuing a mandate to close a business in order to control an outbreak or epidemic of communicable disease for longer than 30 days unless the governing body of the governmental unit in which the order is intended to apply approves an extension. Under the bill, no approved extension may be longer than 30 days.

Generally under current law, local levy limits are applied to the property tax levies that are imposed by a political subdivision in December of each year. Current law prohibits any political subdivision from increasing its levy by a percentage that exceeds its “valuation factor,” which is defined as the greater of either 0 percent or the percentage change in the political subdivision’s equalized value due to new construction, less improvements removed.

Also under current law, if a political subdivision transfers to another governmental unit the responsibility to provide a service that it provided in the previous year, the levy increase limit otherwise applicable in the current year is decreased to reflect the cost that the political subdivision would have incurred to provide that service. Similarly, if a political subdivision increases the services that it provides by adding the responsibility for providing a service transferred to it by another governmental unit that provided the service in the previous year, the levy increase limit otherwise applicable in the current year is increased to reflect the cost of that service. The bill makes these provisions optional.

This bill changes the formula for calculating the levy limit “valuation factor” for tax incremental districts (TIDs) created after December 31, 2024, to include only 90 percent of new construction within TIDs located in the political subdivision. That is, under the bill, net new construction for a political subdivision is the percentage change in the political subdivision’s equalized value due to new construction, including 90 percent of the value of new construction occurring within a TID, less improvements removed, but not including any improvement removed within a TID.

Also, under current law, when a city or village creates a TID, DOR calculates the “tax incremental base” value of the TID, which is the equalized value of all taxable property within the TID at the time of its creation. If the development in the TID increases the value of the property in the TID above this base value, the amount by which the equalized value exceeds the base value is the TID’s “value increment.” The taxes collected on this value increment pay for the project costs of the TID.

Current law provides an increase in a political subdivision’s levy limit upon the termination of a TID located within the political subdivision. If DOR does not certify a value increment for a TID for a year because the TID has terminated, the levy limit of the political subdivision in which the TID is located increases by an amount based on 50 percent of the previous year’s value increment for the TID. (The actual amount is equal to the maximum allowable levy for the preceding year, multiplied by a percentage equal to 50 percent of the amount determined by dividing the terminated TID’s value increment by the political subdivision’s equalized value, as determined by DOR.) Also under current law, a similar increase in levy limit results when a political subdivision amends a TID to subtract territory.

For TIDs created after December 31, 2024, this bill changes the calculation of the levy increase upon TID termination or amendment to an amount equal to 10 percent of the aggregate of the value of new construction in the district, for each year that the district is active. The bill provides an increase of an additional 15 percent of the aggregate of the value of new construction in the district if the TID’s life span is 75 percent or less of the length of the expected life span of the TID.

The bill limits the ability of a political subdivision to place limits or conditions on the operation of quarries from which nonmetallic materials that are used primarily in the construction or repair of public transportation facilities, public infrastructure, or private construction or transportation projects are extracted, as follows:

1. The bill prohibits a political subdivision from requiring a quarry operator to obtain a permit unless, prior to the establishment of quarry operations, the political subdivision enacts an ordinance requiring a permit. The bill also prohibits a political subdivision from, during the duration of a permit that is required in order to operate a quarry, adding conditions to that permit unless the permittee consents and from requiring compliance with another political subdivision’s requirements as a condition of the permit. In addition, if the permit is a permit that is granted pursuant to an ordinance that is not a zoning ordinance, any conditions in the permit must be related to the purpose of the ordinance authorizing the permit and be based on substantial evidence.

2. Under the bill, if a political subdivision enacts an ordinance, other than a zoning ordinance, regulating the operation of a quarry that was not in effect when quarry operations began at a quarry, the ordinance may not be applied to that quarry or to land that is contiguous to the land on which the quarry is located that a) has remained under common ownership, leasehold, or control with the land on which the quarry is located since the time the ordinance was enacted; b) can be shown to have been intended for quarry operations prior to the enactment of the ordinance; and c) is located in the same political subdivision.

3. The bill prohibits a political subdivision from limiting the times that activities related to extracting or processing minerals at a quarry occur if the minerals will be used in a public works project that requires nighttime construction or an emergency repair.

4. Under the bill, a political subdivision may not limit blasting at a quarry, except that the political subdivision may require the operator of the quarry to do any of the following: a) provide preblasting notice to owners of structures within the affected area and to the political subdivision; b) cause a third party to conduct a building survey of structures within the affected area; c) cause a third party to conduct a survey of and test any wells within the affected area; d) maintain records and reports; e) comply with other properly adopted local blasting regulations that are not related to airblast, flyrock, or ground vibration; and f) comply with requirements under current law and rules promulgated by the Department of Safety and Professional Services related to blasting.

The bill also allows a political subdivision to petition DSPS for an order granting the political subdivision the authority to impose additional restrictions and requirements related to blasting on a quarry operator that are more restrictive than requirements under current law and rules promulgated by DSPS related to blasting. DSPS may not charge a fee for the petition, but if the petition is related to the potential impact of blasting on a qualified historic building, DSPS may require the quarry operator to pay the costs of an impact study related to the building.

The bill also affects the requirements for certification as an emergency medical responder, formally known as a first responder. First, the bill prohibits the Department of Health Services from requiring an applicant who is applying for certification as an emergency medical responder to register with or take the examination of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). An ambulance service provider or another emergency medical services program is allowed to require an emergency medical responder to register with or take the examination of the NREMT. Current rules promulgated by DHS require an applicant for a license as an emergency medical services practitioner at any level, including an emergency medical responder, to be registered with the NREMT or, in certain circumstances, to complete the NREMT examination.

Currently, an applicant for certification as an emergency medical responder who demonstrates to DHS that the education, training, instruction, or other experience gained by the applicant in connection with military service is substantially equivalent to the course required for emergency medical responder certification is considered to have satisfied completion of that course. The bill requires DHS to issue the certification for an applicant who has relevant education, training, and experience gained in connection with military service. For applicants with military service who are not affiliated with an ambulance service provider, the determination of whether an applicant has obtained the relevant education, training, and experience remains with DHS as under current law. For applicants with military service intending to volunteer for or be employed by an ambulance service provider or emergency medical services program, the determination of whether an applicant has obtained relevant education, training, and experience is solely within the discretion of that ambulance service provider or emergency medical services program.

The bill allows an ambulance that is engaged in a nonemergent interfacility transport to be staffed with one emergency medical technician and one individual who has a certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Currently, an ambulance may be staffed with any of the following: any two emergency medical services practitioners, licensed registered nurses, licensed physician assistants or physicians, or any combination of those individuals; one emergency medical services practitioner plus one individual with an emergency medical services practitioner training permit; or, for certain rural ambulance service providers, one emergency medical technician and one emergency medical responder.

Under the bill, an ambulance service provider or emergency medical services program may not prohibit an emergency medical responder or emergency medical services practitioner who is employed by or volunteering with it from being employed by or volunteering with another ambulance service provider or emergency medical services program.

Under current law, a rural ambulance service provider may upgrade the service level of an ambulance to the highest level of license of any emergency services practitioner staffing that ambulance if approved by the medical director. The bill prohibits DHS from requiring a rural ambulance service provider to stock an ambulance with equipment to perform all functions that the emergency medical services practitioner with the highest level of license staffing the ambulance may perform in order to upgrade its ambulance service level.

The bill requires the Department of Natural Resources to obtain support from local governments before taking certain steps with respect to activities or projects that will be funded under the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship 2000 Program.

Current law authorizes the state to incur public debt for certain conservation activities under the stewardship program, which is administered by DNR. The state may incur this debt to acquire land for the state for conservation purposes and for property development activities and may award grants or state aid to certain local governmental units and nonprofit conservation organizations to acquire land for these purposes.