The program started in 1975. The Minnesota Legislature created tax-base sharing to:
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Share resources produced by growth of the metro area.
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Make orderly development more likely by reducing competition for tax base.
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Work within the existing system of local governments and local decision making.
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Give incentives for all to work for growth of the seven-county metro area as a whole.
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Help communities in different stages of development and redevelopment.
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Encourage environmental protection.
Local taxing jurisdictions contribute 40% of growth in commercial, industrial, and public utility property tax base since 1971 into an area-wide shared pool of tax base. Local property tax administrators distribute the shared pool of tax base.
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Communities with below-average property tax value per person receive a somewhat larger share of the area-wide tax base.
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Communities with above-average property tax value per person receive a somewhat smaller share of the area-wide tax base.
The Fiscal Disparities Program shared $373 million in tax base for taxes payable in 2016.
The program shared $561 million in tax revenue for taxes payable in 2016.
The Council analyzes tax-base sharing to share results and increase awareness of the program. Analysis also helps the Council and the Minnesota Department of Revenue determine which communities participate in the program, as required each year by state law. To be fair, communities whose planning and zoning policies exclude most commercial-industrial development, for reasons other than preserving agriculture, cannot participate in the program.
How It Impacts Communities
Tax-base sharing narrows the gap between communities with the highest and the lowest commercial, industrial, and public utility property tax base per person. For communities with over 10,000 people, the difference is 5 to 1 with tax-base sharing and 12 to 1 without it.
More communities gain tax base (99 net recipients) than lose tax base (80 net contributors). For net recipients, the distribution from the shared pool of tax base exceeds the contribution to the shared pool.
How It Affects Commercial-Industrial Property
Part of a commercial, industrial, or public utility property is taxed at an area-wide rate, and the rest is taxed at the local rate. The area-wide tax rate reduces differences in tax rates across the metro area.