2. ERMUSR AGENDA 05-12-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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burden falling disproportionately on the smallest issuers. MIPF also predicts a reduced demand for these bonds. The bottom line, argues MIPF, is minimal additional revenue to the state and significantly increased borrowing costs for local government. A number of other provisions are also of concern, including a House provision that would complicate the sales tax exemption for energy used for heating purposes, and a Senate provision that would increase utility property taxes. This would directly affect certain power agency property and indirectly affect others through what would likely be increased pass-through costs. Senate tax bill conferees are Bakk, Skoe, Dibble, Moua, Johnson. House conferees are Lenczewski, Marquart, Koenen, Loeffler, Seifert. Capitol observers report the Governor is likely to veto any bill coming out of the conference committee with obvious tax increases. The House and Senate bills both have obvious tax increases. The Governor has the votes in the House Republican caucus to sustain his veto. Some are predicting a long special session. The government shut-down date is July 1. The House and Senate have each completed their budget bills for environmental agencies and, city interests favor the Senate proposal. Both bills, however, continue the trend of increased fees. The House bill, HF 2123, includes collection of $1.7 million of environmental review costs on water- related projects and $2.2 million of water and wastewater training and certification costs collected by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for the upcoming biennium. The bill, according to the League of Minnesota Cities, requires that the rest of the agency's water permitting program, excluding compliance and enforcement activities, be funded through fee increases enacted in January 2011, which will amount to an additional $3.6 million per biennium. The bill also includes early adoption of a $6 million per biennium water permit fee increase and the early adoption of current draft permit fee increases so that those fees will go into effect as of July 1 instead of later this year. The Senate budget bill SF 2099) does not include any of the fee increases found in the House bill. The Senate bill does, however, increase the summer surcharge for water appropriations from $20 per million gallons to $30 per million gallons. Both bills call for adding $1,500 to water crossing fees charged for crossing state property and $4,500 to land crossing fees. (Both fees are currently set at $500.) The increased fees would raise approximately $550,000.