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House Omnibus Tax Bill Approved by Committee, Heads to Ways and Means
The bill includes a general authorization for local sales taxes for certain projects.
On April 19, the House Taxes Committee passed its omnibus tax bill, HF 5247 (Rep. Aisha Gomez, DFL-Minneapolis), out of committee and referred it to the House Ways and Means Committee, where a hearing has not yet been scheduled. The Senate omnibus tax bill has not yet been released or scheduled for a hearing.
What’s in the bill?
The bill would reduce general fund revenue by $53 million in fiscal years 2024-2025 and by $5.23 million in fiscal years 2026-2027. The bill includes numerous bills that the committee had heard during the session that would impact cities. Those provisions include:
- A general authority for local governments to bring certain projects to voters for a referendum without requiring legislative approval.
- A fix to the local lodging tax to align locally administered lodging taxes with state administered lodging taxes, so that online travel companies pay the tax on the share that they retain from each booking.
- $1 million in one-time grants for cities for treating or removing trees infested with emerald ash borer. The Minnesota Department of Revenue would be the program facilitator and be required to use an open application process for a merit-based competitive grant program.
- A requirement that charitable organizations occupy and provide services from a property in order to receive an exemption on the property if it is used to provide rental housing.
- Replacing the sales tax on amusement devices with a gross receipts tax.
Committee action
Prior to approving the bill, the those Taxes Committee heard public testimony, amended the bill, and voted down numerous amendments that were offered.
Throughout the session, League staff has followed individual pieces of legislation that were included in the omnibus proposal and testified in regard to them, including during hearings in the House Property Tax Division. The League also submitted a letter with broader comments on the bill to the full House Taxes Committee.