Under current law, beginning with the property tax assessments as of January 1, 2018, machinery, tools, and patterns, not including those items used in manufacturing, are exempt from the personal property tax. However, beginning in 2019, the state pays each taxing jurisdiction an amount equal to the property taxes levied on those items of personal property for the property tax assessments as of January 1, 2017.
Under the bill, beginning with the property tax assessments as of January 1, 2024, no items of personal property will be subject to the property tax.
Under current law, generally, public utilities, including railroad companies, are subject to a license fee imposed by the state instead of being subject to local property taxes. This bill creates a personal property tax exemption to the license fee for railroad companies in order to comply with the requirements of the federal Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.
The bill also makes a number of technical changes related to the repeal of the personal property tax, such as providing a process whereby manufacturing establishments located in this state that do not own real property in this state may continue to claim the manufacturing income tax credit.
Other provisions
Prohibition of certain discrimination
The bill prohibits a political subdivision, which means a county, city, village, or town, from discriminating against or providing a preference in hiring or contracting based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, or sexual orientation unless it is required to receive federal aid.
Collection of certain data related to criminal or ordinance violations occurring on school property
Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, the bill requires public high schools and private high schools participating in a parental choice program to collect statistics on violations of municipal disorderly conduct ordinances and certain crimes, including homicide, sexual assault, burglary, battery, and arson, that occur on school property or on transportation provided by the school. The high school must collect statistics about the crime or disorderly conduct only if 1) it occurred on a weekday between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.; 2) it is reported to law enforcement; and 3) a charge is filed or citation is issued. The bill further requires that the collected statistics be reported to the Department of Public Instruction and included on the annual school and school district accountability report. In addition, the bill clarifies that DPI may not consider crimes statistics reported by a school or school district for purposes of determining a school or school district’s performance on the annual school and school district accountability report.
Maintenance of effort for protective services
The bill requires political subdivisions to certify to DOR that the political subdivision is maintaining a level of law enforcement and fire and emergency medical services that is at least equivalent to that provided in the previous year. County and municipal aid to political subdivisions that do not satisfy the maintenance of effort requirement are reduced by 15 percent.
Advisory referenda
The bill prohibits a county or municipality from holding an advisory referendum.
Local government spending reports
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.
Local health officer
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 14 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 14 days.
Levy limit reduction for service transfers
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 repeals both of these provisions.
Local regulation of nonmetallic quarries
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.
Emergency medical responder certification requirements
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.