TAXES

Minnesota tax provisions remain in dispute at the Capitol

Mary Murphy — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:48:48 GMT

ST. PAUL — Less than a month out of a possible government shutdown, Minnesota’s tax bill — one of the last pieces of the state budget — remains in limbo.

Gov. Tim Walz and leaders have said in the weeks following the end of the regular session that the plan is to wait until all budget details are hammered out before calling a special session. The tax bill was one of the few remaining budget bills in dispute over the weekend, so leaders took the bill into their own hands and posted a slimmed-down agreement on Sunday, June 1 — an agreement that may not have enough votes to pass.

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, co-chair of the House’s Tax Committee, on Monday said the leadership tax bill is “the worst tax bill (he’s) seen in 33 years.”

“I couldn’t in good conscience vote for it,” he said. “I can’t speak for the Senate, but it sounds to me like there’s a number of senators that have said they’re not supporting it and so it’s not going to pass.”

The tax proposal posted by leadership is a small, 12-page bill that outlines fewer than 10 changes to the state’s current tax provisions.

Some of the larger changes among them include an increase to the state’s cannabis gross reciepts tax from 10% to 15%, repealing the electricty exemption tax for data centers and changing the state’s Research and Development tax credit to include a 17.5% refundability in tax year 2025 and 25% refundability begining in tax year 2026.

Davids said he takes issue with several provisions of the bill, one being the absence of a sustainable aviation fuel tax provision. Another is the data centers tax proposal from leadership, which is anticipated to generate roughly $139 million in net revenue for the state over four years, according to House Fiscal analysts.

Currently, Meta is building a data center in Rosemont while Amazon and Microsoft are mulling data centers in Minnesota. He said he would prefer a proposal that he backed from Senate Tax Chair Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, that would give data centers relief “on the back end” for paying the electricity tax.

“This was taken from us,” Davids said. “So you have a lot of folks that really know nothing about taxes trying to put a tax bill together. That’s the recipe for disaster.”

To pass their tax bill, leadership will need Senate Democrat votes, and some have already declared a “no” vote on the bill as it stands.

“I rejected it right off the bat,” Rest told the Minnesota Reformer on Monday. “As soon as I saw it, I told them I couldn't vote for that and neither could half a dozen other Senate Democrats.”

Several Democrat tax proposals from this session did not make it in the leadership tax bill, including repealing a sales tax exemption for data centers, a social media tax or a new fifth-tier income tax.

Roughly 20 Democrats held a press conference on April 25 calling for tax revenue to offset potential federal funding cuts to the state, but Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, has maintained all session that broad tax increases are a “nonstarter” for House Republicans.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said during the E-12 (early through high school) Education working group on Monday that it’s “harder” to make the $420 million in cuts to education knowing “we don’t have to.”

“We have chosen to continue tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations in the world — not in Minnesota, in the world — your Twitters, your Facebook, Meta, Google, Amazon …,” Maye Quade said. “It was really, really hard to make these cuts, but it’s harder to do it, knowing that we don’t have to, that … it’s a choice we’re making to continue tax breaks for the largest billionaires and their companies in the world, and then cutting special education services for students.”

Davids said Monday that the Minnesota Legislature could opt for not passing a tax bill, if necessary, to finish work.

“If there’s no tax bill that passes, that’s a possibility,” he said. “You don’t have to have a tax bill. Then you just go back to old law, which should be much better than what they proposed … we spent five months working on a bipartisan matter, putting some very good tax provisions together, and I really don’t want to walk away from those. I’d rather have … no tax bill than a bad tax bill.”

The Minnesota Legislature must enact a budget by July 1 to avoid a partial government shutdown. Layoff notices were sent on June 1 to government employees warning of the shutdown possibility, and another round of notices will follow on June 9, according to Walz.

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Minnesota lawmakers target the state’s ‘fraud problem’

Jack O'Connor — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 14:16:00 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — The first person convicted of helping Feeding Our Future steal millions of dollars of public funds was sentenced in October 2024. Two autism treatment centers in St. Cloud and Minneapolis were raided by the FBI in December for fraudulent Medicaid claims. In April, a couple was indicted for defrauding around $15 million from health insurers, and the state’s attorney general’s office convicted an apartment subcontractor of wage theft for the first time.

Headlines like these coming out of Minnesota have made state lawmakers take a renewed focus on fraud prevention this legislative session.

“Minnesota has a fraud problem,” U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a press release regarding the Minnesota couple indicted in a $15 million medical fraud scheme.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are saying that these fraud cases are not only showing wasted taxpayer money, but hurting the public’s trust in government.

“It's really distressing that bad actors exploit that for their own profit and in the process, depleted and diminished the trust of regular Minnesotans in government,” said Sen. Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights.

Chair of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, said the Legislature needs to address fraud this session to ensure Minnesotans' taxpayer money is being used to help Minnesota.

“This is something that we really have to get a handle on,” she said. “First of all, Minnesotans who need the services are not getting them. And secondly, taxpayers' hard-earned money, it's just being wasted and used to hurt the needy by the greedy.”

Some of the fraud-targeting bills legislators introduced this session include creating a portal for state employees to report fraud, strengthening whistleblower protections and establishing a new Office of Inspector General to investigate fraud of public funds.

Among the fraud prevention bills this session, Rep. Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul, said he is especially hopeful that his bill, HF2603, could help state agencies investigate and prevent fraud. The administrative bill changes several provisions to increase criminal penalties for committing fraud, empower state agencies to investigate potential fraud and improve oversight of grant money.

Another bill, authored by Robbins, strengthens whistleblower protections for reporting fraud. The bill, HF23, expands protections to all state employees, adds law enforcement and government entities to the list of protected agencies, and explicitly makes reporting fraud or misuse of authority a protected disclosure.

The bill passed the House floor unanimously and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.

The Minnesota Business Filing Fraud Prevention Act targets cases of fraud where a person uses someone else’s identity for fraudulent business purposes. This bill, HF2566/SF1734, streamlines the process for the secretary of state to decertify these fraudulent businesses.

“Bad actors can sort of hijack a legitimate business or create fake ones and use someone else's name, and then the victim won't even know what has happened until they're facing bills or legal trouble or tax liabilities for a business they never owned or created,” said Klein, who is the chief author of the bill.

DFL and Republican legislators agree that more work is needed to prevent fraud going forward; however, disagreements over the Legislature’s past fraud prevention efforts remain.

Pinto, who is the DFL lead in the House Oversight Committee, said it is wrong to assume the Legislature has not addressed fraud in the prior years.

“There actually has been a lot of progress made in this area over the past few years,” he said. “And in particular, last term 2023-24, there was quite a lot of tightening in various ways, in particular relating to kind of the oversight of grants received by organizations.”

During the 2023-24 legislative session — when the DFL held the House and Senate Majority, as well as the governorship — laws were passed to establish an Office of Inspector General within the state Department of Education, require agencies to develop project timelines with groups receiving grant money and fund additional staff who would do grant oversight in the Minnesota Management and Budget office.

Rep. Patti Anderson, R-Dellwood, said those actions were not enough and that the DFL-led state government should have done more to prevent fraud before it became an issue.

“The administration should have done their job without it coming to this point,” said Anderson, who was the state auditor from 2003 to 2007.

While fraud stories have made lawmakers take another look at fraud prevention, Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine, said combating fraud should be a focus of the Legislature even when fraud is not making the headlines.

“(Fraud) is something that we can never let our guard down on,” he said. “So whether there are prominent cases that are in the news, like we've had recently, or things are quiet on that front, this is something that we should never take our eye off the ball on.”

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Tax feuds, vaccines and education policy: This week in the Minnesota Legislature

Mary Murphy — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 19:28:02 GMT

ST. PAUL — Minnesota lawmakers returned to the Capitol after their Easter break, and now face passing a bonding and budget bill with three weeks left in the session.

The majority of work this week centered on pushing omnibus budget and policy bills through committees. Once these pass their respective chambers, the leaders of the Senate and House will meet in the coming weeks in conference committees to rectify the spending and policy differences.

Dems push for tax revenue

Roughly 20 DFL senators and representatives held a rally Thursday morning, April 24, pushing for a state budget bill that responds to potential federal budget cut proposals.

Democrats said Thursday some of their colleagues want to put tax revenue on the table in this year’s state budget and proposed several provisions, including those from SF2290, a bill targeting fifth-tier income tax among other income tax brackets; SF3197, a social media tax; and SF3265, ending the sales tax exemption for data centers.

“It is our obligation in this body to protect communities and safeguard democratic self-governance here in Minnesota, and that starts by ensuring that we have the resources and the courage to stand up for Minnesotans and to protect our communities,” Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, said Thursday.

Senate Democrats and Gov. Tim Walz have both put revenue in their budget proposals, but Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said at an unrelated press conference Wednesday that any tax increases remain a non-starter for them in budget negotiations this year.

“No new tax increases,” she said. “That's what I can guarantee. That is a non-starter for House Republicans at this point.”

Bill would classify mNRA vaccine a ‘weapon of mass destruction’

Seven House Republicans introduced a bill Monday that would classify the mNRA vaccine as a weapon of mass destruction.

The bill, HF3219, chief authored by Rep. Shane Mekeland, R-Clear Lake, states that “the COVID injections, mRNA or 'modified' messenger RNA as related to the gene altering agents,” should be classified as a weapon of mass destruction. The bill would allow the distribution of the mNRA vaccine to be punishable under Minnesota’s existing provisions for weapons of mass destruction: up to 20 years, a $100,000 fine or both.

Rep. Robert Bierman, DFL-Apple Valley, said the bill was “outrageous” and “disturbing.”

“This bill, simply put, is a dangerous attack on public health on the heels of a global pandemic,” he said. “I mean, it's just mind-boggling to me that our House Republican colleagues have aligned themselves with such a bill, and a lack of understanding of medical science is what it comes down to. So it's disturbing.”

Mekeland and co-authors Reps. Krista Knudsen, R-Lake Shore; Walter Hudson, R-Albertville; Jeff Dotseth, R-Silver Township; Tom Murphy, R-Underwood; Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing; and Isaac Schultz, R-Elmdale Township; did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

Senate passes omnibus education policy bill

The Senate passed its education omnibus policy bill, SF1740, authored by Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie, on a bipartisan 39-26 vote late Thursday night following seven hours of floor debate.

The bill includes provisions such as removing a content exam requirement for tier-one teacher license renewals, carrying opiate antagonists in school, updating charter school regulations to improve oversight and prevent conflicts of interest, clarity on student absenteeism, allowing student representation on school boards as well as adjustments to the READ Act, and including reduced instructional time to allow for teacher training.

Republicans said following Thursday’s floor session that the bill doesn’t go far enough. Sen. Julia Coleman, R-Waconia, who voted for the bill, said she would have liked more relief for “unfunded mandates.”

“While we would have liked to see some of these mandates repealed, flexibility restored to local school boards, and our girls sports protected, it is encouraging that Democrats didn’t go even further with more costly proposals,” she said in a statement. “We’ll keep fighting to remove burdensome mandates and focus on improving classroom learning and school safety.”

During the seven-hour floor debate, Republicans attempted to push several amendments, including barring transgender athletes from women's and girls sports, parental notification of violent incidents in school, and prohibiting schools from implementing the Minnesota Department of Education’s rule requiring instruction on nonbinary gender pronouns in third grade.

At the end of the floor debate Thursday, Cwodzinski called to attention that the bill had adopted an equal number of five amendments from each party. He thanked all those who worked with him on the bill and said the bipartisan work on Thursday had been a "joy."

"We're supposed to be a disagreeable body," he said. "That's what we do here. We disagree, and people say, 'You need to disagree less,' and I would argue we need to disagree better. I appreciate all of you tonight for listening to each other, for having an open heart, for having an open mind, for trying to leave this world a better place than you found it."

Bills in motion

HF2446: The Minnesota House passed the agriculture Budget bill, 130-3, increasing total funding for Agriculture by $17 million. The bill makes appropriations to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Board of Animal Health, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute and the Office of Broadband Development.

SF1075: Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill Thursday that will allow a doctor to designate a condition as permanent, issue a prescription without an expiration date, and relieve the need to obtain new documentation in the future.

HF2431: The Higher Education Budget and Policy Bill passed unanimously out of the House's Ways and Means Committee Wednesday and now heads to the House floor.

HF2442: The Energy Omnibus Bill was laid over for further consideration in the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.

SF3196: The Senate unanimously passed the immediate appropriation for the Department of Corrections on Thursday.

HF2432: The House Judiciary and Public Safety bills were combined into one bill, to align with the Senate's version of the bill. The merged bill is headed to the House floor for consideration after passing out of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.

SF3096: The Elections Budget and Policy Omnibus bill was combined into SF304, the State and Local Government Omnibus bill on Wednesday.

SF219: Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, pushed a bill to expand who is eligible for the electric bike rebate program was laid over. It will be revisited once a clear definition of "persons with disabilities" is included in the bill's language.

HF1090: On Monday, the House unanimously passed HF1090 in remembrance of the late state Rep. Mary Murphy. The bill will create the “Mary C. Murphy Library Construction Grants Program.”

HF1615: The House Cannabis Policy bill narrowly passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday and was sent to the House floor.

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Teacher pensions, social media tax and public safety: Last week in the Minnesota Legislature

Mary Murphy — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 22:34:09 GMT

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Legislature had a busy week before letting out for its annual break on Friday, April 11.

Teachers urge pension and retirement reform

The Suburban Solutions Caucus (SSC) presented two teacher pension reform proposals during a hearing before the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement on Tuesday, April 8.

HF2318 would make teachers eligible for early retirement benefits at 60 years old instead of 62 and HF2329 would allow retirees who are at least 62 to receive their pension without any reductions.

“Our education system is going to pay for this regardless, one way or the other,” Rep. Danny Nadeau, R-Rogers. “We can either create options for retention and recruitment in our education system, respect the promises that we've made to teachers, or we can do nothing, and our education system will pay for it with larger class sizes, higher activity fees, less options.”

Republicans are proposing funding these pension changes through Q-Comp — an alternative teacher pay system — and through HF2201, which would preserve free breakfast for all students while asking families of four earning more than $156,000 to cover the cost of lunches.

The bills, authored by members of the caucus, were laid over for possible inclusion in a larger omnibus pension bill.

Senate hears a pitch to tax social media apps

The Senate Taxes Committee heard a bill Wednesday to tax social media apps, a move that the author said would be the first in the nation.

SF3197, sponsored by Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, would tax social media companies with over 100,000 Minnesota consumers, according to the bill draft. Companies with between 100,000 and 500,000 Minnesota users would pay 10 cents per month per Minnesota customer. Platforms with between 500,000 and 1 million Minnesota customers would be charged $40,000 per month plus 25 cents per month for every Minnesota user over 500,000. Companies with more than 1 million Minnesota consumers would be taxed $165,000 per month plus 50 cents per consumer over 1 million, according to the bill language.

“As the first state to do this, Minnesota would become a model for the rest of the country,” Rest said in a press release. “The substantial money generated for our state will come from people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who have accumulated vast wealth by taking data from Minnesotans and selling it. No Minnesotan will be taxed under this plan and every penny raised will help us balance our state’s budget.”

The Minnesota Department of Revenue estimates that the tax, which would begin in 2026, would apply to 14 social media companies, would generate nearly $46 million in the first fiscal year, and just under $100 million annually after.

The social media tax was laid over for possible inclusion in the final tax bill.

House advances public safety omnibus bill

The House Public Safety Committee passed HF2432 on Thursday, the Public Safety’s omnibus budget bill, including $50 million in additional funding for 2026-27.

This public safety bill allocates over $1.63 billion for the Department of Corrections for fiscal years 2026–27, with funding designated for incarceration services, community supervision and housing initiatives for individuals leaving prison, according to the bill draft. It also invests more than $555 million in public safety agencies, including the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, emergency communications, fire services, emergency management and justice programs.

“This is a good bill that reflects strong collaboration between our two caucuses,” Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, co-chair of the Public Safety Committee, said in a press release. “In a year that has been defined by chaos, I’m happy that we could work effectively together. I look forward to continuing to push for the strongest provisions of this bill in conference committee”

Additional funding includes nearly $25 million for peace officer training — $11 million of which goes to the Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund — and targeted grants for use-of-force education, clemency review outreach, tribal supervision and victims of crime.

The bill is on its way to the Ways and Means Committee.

Bills in motion

The week marked the last days for lawmakers to meet the April 11 deadline for fiscal impact bills to move out of committee of origin. These “omnibus bills” represent how much from the general fund each committee can spend on bills in fiscal years 2026-27.

House

HF2443: The House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee passed its omnibus bill Thursday, which allocates $79.72 million for the Department of Commerce and $75.8 million for the Office of Cannabis Management. This bill now heads to Ways and Means.

HF1027: The House passed a bill 134-0 to provide mortgage foreclosure redemptions and surpluses on Thursday. The bill now heads to the Senate.

HF2434: The House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee passed its committee’s omnibus bill on Thursday, which includes $300 million in cuts. The bill now heads to the Ways and Means Committee.

HF1943: The House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee passed its omnibus bill on Wednesday, which allocates $3.86 million in spending, largely to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The bill now heads to Ways and Means.

HF2783: The House State Government Finance and Policy Committee passed its omnibus bill appropriating $1.35 billion to state government, including the legislature, commissions and state councils on Thursday. The bill now heads to Ways and Means.

Senate

SF1346: The Senate passed a bill on Thursday 63-0 to protect commercial lake divers. The bill now heads to the governor's desk for signing.

SF2216: The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee passed its omnibus budget bill on Thursday, appropriating roughly $80 million. The bill now heads to the Finance Committee.

SF2149: The Senate Labor Committee unanimously passed a bill to make exceptions for safe and sick time for certain employers. The bill now heads to the Finance Committee.

SF1360: Gov. Tim Walz signed SF1360 on Thursday, increasing the speed limit for implements of husbandry (vehicles used for agriculture) to 35 miles per hour.

SF2483: The Senate Higher Education Committee passed its omnibus bill appropriating roughly $750 million. The bill now heads to the finance committee.

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Unlocking Life Basics: Things you should know when filing for taxes

Adria Peters — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:05:33 GMT

Tax Day is April 15, 2025, and there are steps you can take to be as prepared as possible to file your taxes.

First and foremost, the IRS recommends that you create or access your account at IRS.gov/account. IRS.gov states, “Use online account to securely access the latest information available about your federal tax account and see information from your most recently filed tax return.”

Next, you’ll want to gather and organize your tax records. Ensuring that your tax records are organized makes it easier for you and for your accountant (if you have one). Bryan Lundbohm, a tax accountant located in Roseau, Minnesota, recommends that you don’t rush to file right away because forms can come later. He said, “Give it a little extra time to make sure you’ve got all your tax forms so you don’t have to redo or resubmit.”

Tax records can include forms W-2 from your employers and forms 1099 from banks, issuing agencies and other payers including unemployment compensation, dividends, etc. Visit the IRS website to see what other forms you may need.

You must also notify the IRS if your address changes and notify the Social Security Administration of a legal name change.

Next, you should check your individual tax identification number (ITIN). According to the IRS, “An ITIN only needs to be renewed if it has expired and is needed on a U.S. federal tax return. If you do not renew an expiring or expired ITIN, the IRS can still accept your tax return but it may delay processing it or delay tax credits owed to you, such as the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which can impact when you get your tax refund.”

Then, you’ll want to get an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN). An IP PIN is a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a federal tax return using your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. This is a crucial tool for ensuring the safety of your personal and financial information.

The IRS says the best way to sign up for an IP PIN is through your IRS online account. If you can’t make an Online Account, other options are available, such as in-person authentication at a Taxpayer Assistance Center. More information regarding IP PIN is available here.

Next, make sure you’ve withheld enough tax. If you’ve owed taxes or received a large refund when you filed, consider adjusting your withholding. Changing your withholding can help you avoid a tax bill or let you keep more money each payday — both more desirable. Life changes (marriage, divorce, children, second jobs) may mean changing your withholding, or credit amounts may change each year. Visit IRS.gov and use the Interactive Tax Assistant to identify whether you qualify for any tax credits that may need a withholding adjustment.

Using the Tax Withholding Estimator available on IRS.gov can help you determine the right amount of tax to have withheld from your paycheck. Read more about withholding on the IRS website.

Filing electronically and choosing direct deposit is the fastest and easiest way to get your tax refund. If you don’t have a bank account, the IRS website will walk you through how to get one. As a plus, direct deposit also avoids the possibility of a refund check getting lost, stolen or returned to the IRS as undeliverable.

It is important to stay up-to-date on changes and possible new laws that may affect your tax refund. The best way to stay informed is through the IRS website. Bryan Lundbohm said that the tax filing system remains similar, but there are always small changes being made, so staying on top of tax laws and the little adjustments is crucial to ensure you can save on taxes.

Taxes can sometimes be a confusing, intimidating topic, but there are people and resources available to help.

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Bemidji State's Department of Accountancy now offering free tax preparation

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — Bemidji State University’s Department of Accountancy is again offering free federal and state tax preparation and eFiling to the public.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, through April 9, in BSU Memorial Hall room 250. There will be no service on March 12 due to spring break.

No appointment is necessary, but the last walk-in is accepted no later than 5:30 p.m.

Students who have completed BSU's Tax I course and passed IRS certification tests will offer assistance to taxpayers who generally make $57,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly, limited English-speaking taxpayers and others who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns, a release said.

This free service is sponsored by the IRS.

If returns are outside of the scope of the program, taxpayers will need to identify other opportunities for support, such as contacting the IRS directly, working with a professional tax preparation service or using a self-guided tax preparation service, explained the release.

This year, the IRS is offering its VITA tax and eFiling software free to anyone, regardless of income level.

The free software guides taxpayers by asking sets of simply answered questions and prepares their return, similar to other self-preparation tax software. To access the software, email VITAFreeTaxInfo@bemidjistate.edu.

With questions, contact Jeffrey Everhart, assistant professor of accounting, at (218) 755-3873 or jeffrey.everhart@bemidjistate.edu.

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Tax prep assistance now available at Bemidji Senior Center

Pioneer Staff Report — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 17:45:27 GMT

BEMIDJI — The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program is again providing tax preparation assistance through April 14, at the Bemidji Senior Center, 216 Third St. NW.

The program is especially for people ages 50 and older or anyone with a low to moderate income, a release said.

The Tax-Aide office will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays with walk-in service. No appointments will be taken and the number of people seen each day may be limited based on the number of volunteers available.

Clients will be seen on a first-come, first-served basis and should be prepared to wait for the next available counselor.

Anyone wanting to file a tax return will need to bring a photo ID, social security cards for all individuals on the return, copies of all forms of income, amounts of deductible items such as charitable contributions, bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit of refunds and a copy of last year's tax return if it is available, the release said.

If clients are applying for a renter’s or homestead credit refund, the certificate of rent paid or 2025 property tax statement is also needed. If filing a joint return, both members of the couple should come in, added the release.

This free service is provided by the Bemidji Senior Center, the AARP Foundation, IRS and the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

For more information, call the center at (218) 751-8836.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announces new advance payment option for Child Tax Credit

Mary Murphy — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 21:56:05 GMT

ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz announced in a Wednesday, Dec. 18, news release that taxpayers who qualify for the Child Tax Credit now have the option to receive advance payments.

Minnesota’s Child Tax Credit passed in the 2023 legislative session, making it the 15th state to offer a credit to working-class families. Now, Minnesota is set to be the first state in the nation to offer advanced payments for Child Tax Credit recipients, according to the release.

The new payment option would allow recipients to receive parts of the following year’s credit in three advance payments sent in the second half of 2025 on top of the full child tax credit for the current filing year.

“The goal of this nation-leading tax credit is to lower child poverty and provide tax relief for working class families in Minnesota,” Walz said in the release. “With the advance payment option, we’re making it easier for families to manage their annual household budget. This new option will increase financial freedom and ensure families have the support they need all year long.”

The release said more than 200,000 Minnesotans claimed the Child Tax Credit for tax year 2023, with an average total credit of $1,242, putting over $562 million into the budgets of Minnesota families in 2024.

In 2024, taxpayers may qualify for a Child Tax Credit of $1,750 per qualifying child, with no limit on the number of children claimed.

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AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program seeks volunteers for the upcoming tax season

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:09:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is looking for compassionate and friendly people to join their volunteer team at the Bemidji Senior Center. There will be training and support to help volunteers learn new skills.

Volunteers come from a variety of industries and span from retirees to college students, a release said.

"Tax-Aide focuses on serving older adults and others with low to moderate income and helps them secure much-needed tax refunds," the release said. "Tax-Aide volunteers provide free tax preparation and filing services to taxpayers, as well as providing tech support, helping to organize, recruiting volunteers and more."

All levels and types of experience are welcome. Volunteers are trained and IRS certified, with classes generally held in December or January for the upcoming tax filing season. The amount of training required depends on the position.

Volunteers are asked to provide approximately five hours of service per week during the tax season from February through April.

Dating back to 1968, Tax-Aide is the nation’s largest free, volunteer-based tax assistance and preparation program.

According to the release, for the 2023 tax season, 27,771 volunteers at 3,600 national sites helped 1,680,084 taxpayers receive $1,280,817,176 in refunds. Locally, 17 volunteers helped more than 750 people get refunds of $805,000.

"Tax-Aide volunteers make a meaningful difference in the lives of older adults right in their own communities, by helping build their financial resilience," said Tax-Aid District Coordinator Susan Lind. "Even modest refunds can benefit the lives of older adults, especially those living with low incomes. Our Tax-Aide volunteers help make sure they don’t miss out on the credits and deductions they have earned and need."

Those interested in volunteering should contact Lind at (218) 751-0060 or email Taxes9632@gmail.com.

Supplies and equipment are provided and mileage reimbursement is available through the AARP Foundation. For more information and schedule details, visit aarpfoundation.org/taxaide.

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Bemidji City Council sets preliminary tax levy of 9% for 2025

Ashley McKenzie — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 19:23:23 GMT

BEMIDJI — The Bemidji City Council convened on Monday for a joint meeting with the Bemidji City Charter Commission and for a quick work session to finalize the resolution for approving the preliminary tax levy for 2025.

A preliminary tax levy sets the maximum amount the city can collect in taxes for the upcoming year, allowing for adjustments later but not exceeding the approved limit.

The levy was discussed at length during the council's Sept. 17 meeting, where a tax levy resolution was debated initially proposing a 10.3% increase. Councilors were divided on whether to set a higher levy for flexibility or start with a more conservative rate.

With the city’s audited financials still incomplete, some council members expressed concerns about moving forward without a full financial picture. The decision was postponed until this week’s session to allow for further deliberation.

During Monday's meeting, City Manager Rich Spiczka provided updates on the city's financial situation, adding that some numbers were skewed due to incomplete 2023 year-end transfers and the lack of finalized audit data, however, it offered the council a basic overall picture of the financials.

When discussing the actual levy amount, Ward 3 Councilor Ron Johnson expressed discomfort with setting it too high initially.

“If you don't believe you're going to support anything close to 10.3%, I don't think it's smart to set a preliminary levy to do that,” he stated, preferring a rate closer to 7.9%.

Meanwhile, At-Large Councilor Audrey Thayer supported setting the maximum rate, noting, “This is setting the ceiling at maximum, at the max level, which means we can go below that later.”

“My cap is 9.9%," Ward 2 Councilor Josh Peterson said. "I am ideally looking at 8.5%, maybe 7%. But just for preliminary purposes, I would be comfortable with a 9.9%.”

The council moved forward with a motion to approve the resolution to set the preliminary tax levy for 2025 at 9%. The motion passed with a 4-3 vote with Peterson, Johnson and Mayor Jorge Prince voting against.

This established the maximum levy increase the council could consider, meaning the levy can be reduced later during the budget process but not increased beyond the 9% ceiling.

The specific dollar amount associated with the levy will be calculated and added to the resolution later once more finalized numbers have been determined.

Bemidji City Charter discussion

During the joint portion of the meeting with the charter commission, City Attorney Katie Nolting provided an overview of the procedures for amending the city’s charter under Minnesota Statute 410.12. Nolting explained that there are three main ways amendments can be proposed: by voters, by the council or through an ordinance.

The first method involves voter-proposed amendments

“The first way you can amend the Charter is by a petition by the voters. That requires 5% of the total votes cast in the state's general election by signing a petition for a specific amendment to the Charter,” Nolting explained.

These petitions must be submitted 17 weeks before the general election and are reviewed by the Charter Commission, which has 10 days to make recommendations.

The second method allows the city council to propose amendments. In this case, the proposed changes must be submitted to the Charter Commission for review.

“The Charter Commission then has 60 days upon receipt to review the proposed amendments ... they have the right to actually extend it an additional 90 days to review any of those amendments,” Nolting continued.

Regardless of whether the Charter Commission supports the amendment, the council retains the right to vote and place it on the ballot, whether supported by the Charter Commission or not.

The final method is through a charter amendment by ordinance, which involves a more streamlined process.

“This is not your typical ordinance amendment," Nolting explained. "By statute, this has a public hearing and one vote by the council.”

After a public hearing is held, the council must vote within 30 days. If passed unanimously, the amendment becomes effective after 90 days, unless a petition is filed by voters to trigger Nolting added that it must be “signed by 5% of the voters registered in the city or 2,000 registered voters of the city, whichever is less.”

She emphasized that all amendments require public hearings with at least a 30-day notice to ensure transparency and public involvement in the process.

Though no formal decisions were made on any amendments during the session, the meeting provided clarification on how the city’s charter will be updated moving forward.

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