H.F. No. 60 Summary

• Amends Minnesota Statutes section 273.124 to reorganize and clarify agricultural homestead classification criteria, renumbering subsections (b) through (j) to (b) through (g).

• Retains four-township distance requirement for noncontiguous agricultural land owned by homestead owners and limits initial classification to properties that qualified under these provisions for the 1998 assessment.

• Requires owners of agricultural properties to submit initial full applications and abbreviated one-page reapplication forms annually, with specific documentation including Social Security numbers, Schedule F tax forms, and unchanged acreage and farm program enrollment status.

• Maintains special provisions allowing agricultural land homestead classification for individuals and family farm entities (corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies) meeting minimum 40-acre requirements and active farming criteria by qualified relatives.

• Preserves homestead status for properties abandoned due to specific natural disasters (1997 floods, 1998 tornado, 2007 floods, 2009 floods) in designated counties if owner relocates within 30-50 miles and notifies assessor.

• Amends section 273.124, subdivision 21 to clarify that trust property held by a trustee is eligible for homestead classification if grantor, surviving relatives, or family farm entities meet residency and occupancy requirements.

• Changes effective for taxes payable in 2016 and thereafter.