Bloomington sales tax information

The proposed Bloomington sales tax is a local sales tax that would be charged within the boundaries of the city. Approximately 80 units of government in Minnesota have a local sales tax. Revenues collected stay within the specific city where it is charged. Cities are required to get legislative approval and then voter approval before imposing any local sales tax. All projects considered for funding through a local sales tax must be regionally significant. See Minnesota Statute 297.99A for the state requirements for a local sales tax.

The Bloomington sales tax would be a 0.5% (one-half of one percent) added tax charged on the gross receipts from retail sales in the city. The new tax would only apply to items that are currently taxable, meaning that items such as clothes and staple groceries would still not be taxed. This local sales tax would generate approximately $11 million each year over 20 years. The revenue collected by the sales tax would stay inside Bloomington.

It is estimated that 75 percent of a Bloomington sales tax would be paid for by visitors to Bloomington, and 25 percent would be paid for by Bloomington residents, according to an independent analysis by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality.

The strength of Bloomington’s retail economy is such that local stores attract a significant number of metro area and regional visitors to shop in the community. In addition, residents from other cities commute to Bloomington for work, and purchase goods and services in the city. As a result, a local sales tax would generate considerably more revenues from non-residents who shop in Bloomington than from local residents.

The local sales tax would apply to items typically subject to a sales tax such as meals and drinks, admissions, and lodging and related services. See the Minnesota Department of Revenue for local sales tax information.

The estimated $11 million generated each year through a Bloomington sales tax would be used to pay for specific capital improvement projects that have a regional impact.

Many of Bloomington’s facilities are in need of significant investment or replacement. A Bloomington sales tax would give the City a tool to shift the impact for improvements to these facilities onto a much broader base of taxpayers from outside of Bloomington.

Four projects have been identified that could be funded through a Bloomington sales tax:

• Bloomington Ice Garden renovation including a new roof, a new refrigeration system, locker room improvements, and other guest service and ADA improvements: $32 million estimated cost, plus interest and financing costs.
• A new community health and wellness center to replace the Public Health building and Creekside Community Center: $70 million estimated cost, plus interest and financing costs.
• Dwan Golf Course improvements including total replacement of the clubhouse as well as golf course and bunker improvements and on-course restrooms: $15 million estimated cost, plus interest and financing costs.
• Bloomington Center for the Arts expansion that would add a concert hall and Schneider Theater updates: $33 million estimated cost, plus interest and financing costs.

City staff will analyze each project throughout the coming months, to consider the timing, cost and design of each project. In addition, there will be opportunities for the public to review and provide input.

It should be noted that the cost funded by the sales tax for each project must not exceed the amount of funding approved by the state legislature and Bloomington voters.

Each proposed project must meet the statutory requirement of regional significance at the state legislature. If approved by the legislature, Bloomington voters would be asked to vote at a general election.

A Bloomington sales tax would reduce a homeowner’s share of the cost to improve City facilities, spreading the cost across a broader geographic area to support amenities that serve the region.

The City will have public education and information materials available for each project during the time of the current legislative session and, if approved, up to the general election in November 2022 so that voters are fully aware of what they are being asked to approve.

Assuming that a Bloomington sales tax was approved by Bloomington voters in the General Election in November 2022, the sale tax would go into effect by second quarter 2023.

The proposed Bloomington sales tax is not permanent. It is a special purpose tax that would expire when the City collects the revenue needed to fund the projects approved by the legislature and Bloomington voters.

The Bloomington sales tax is forecast to expire 20 years after implementation, the maximum allowed by state law. The revenues generated by the sales tax would fund the four proposed projects and their debt service (interest and financing costs.) If fewer than four projects are approved by the legislature and Bloomington voters, the half-cent sales tax would be implemented, but its duration would be shorter.

If local sales tax revenues are lower than expected, the total project costs would need to be decreased or additional funding would need to be identified from an alternative financing source

Staff will be tracking sales tax revenues very closely. The City is confident that the analysis by University of Minnesota Extension is an accurate portrayal of where sales tax revenues will be in the future. This is because Extension identifies the amount of revenue as a floor, not a ceiling. The likelihood is that there will be sufficient revenue than what’s been estimated because Extension is conservative in its assumptions.

If the revenues are higher than forecast, the tax would expire when the projects are fully funded. An example of this is Target Field, which was funded by 0.15 percent sales tax to cover Hennepin County’s payments on the ballpark’s construction. Excess revenues from the sales tax, plus lower interest rates, have helped the county pay off bonds sooner than expected.

No. Just like today, some good and services in Minnesota are taxed, and others are not. The same items that are taxed today would see the added tax (with some statutory exceptions). Untaxed basic groups include many food and food ingredients, baby products, clothing, medication and feminine hygiene products. A full listing of non-taxable items is available on the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s website.

City staff created this quick reference sheet listing taxable items and taxable services as well as most nontaxable items with reference from the state of MN: Bloomington Sales Tax -Taxable and Nontaxable Sales (updated May 3, 2022)

No. Purchase of a new or used home is a not taxable for the whole-home transaction.

No. Motor vehicles are taxed under a different structure. Local sales taxes cannot be assessed on the sales of motor vehicles, and the same applies to trailers such as boat trailers.

The sales tax would apply to used or new boat sales using a broker or dealer. There is no tax on used boat sales between private parties in MN.

If you purchase a $10 toy at a store in Bloomington, the Bloomington sales tax portion of your receipt would be 5 cents.

A Bloomington sales tax would reduce homeowner’s share of the cost to improve Bloomington’s facilities, spreading the cost across a broader geographic area to support amenities that serve the region.

Below is a comparison of what it would cost to pay for identified facility improvements through the property tax levy versus paying for those improvements through a Bloomington sales tax:

• If $11 million of debt service is added for the identified projects, the property tax bill for a median value home in Bloomington would increase by about $210 a year.
• If $11 million is collected through a Bloomington sales tax, Bloomington residents would fund 25 percent—or about $2.75 million—of the identified projects. Spread across Bloomington’s 38,000 households, that would be about $72 of additional sales tax each year.
• The comparison of what it would cost each year for a median value home to fund the four City facilities proposed for improvements is $210 from property taxes versus $72 from a Bloomington sales tax.

The City would welcome contributions toward these projects. Staff are looking at all funding sources to move the projects forward in an economical way for the Bloomington community. These sources might include fundraising, naming rights or grants.

The University of Minnesota Extension is a partnership between the university and federal, state and local governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public in a variety of areas. Extension’s mission is to build a better future through the University of Minnesota’ science-based knowledge, expertise and training.

The Extension Center for Community Vitality is a specialty area that studies the economic impacts on a region. The center provides customized retail analyses for communities to help gain insight into the local retail economy. The center has conducted a number of these studies for counties and cities, and it has a methodology that has proven to be very reliable.

After an analysis of a potential local option sales tax in 2019 based on 2016 sales tax statistics, University of Minnesota Extension took a second look using 2017, 2018, and 2019 data. Extension conducted the study to estimate overall tax proceeds and the proportion of tax proceeds generated by Bloomington residents. Comparing these results to nonresidents using sales and use tax data available from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, Extension estimated nonresidents spending in two ways: 

1. Using the same proportions of nonresident spending for each category as estimated using 2016 data; and
2. Adjusting proportions of nonresident spending using 2019 data based on shifts in taxable sales by category.

Calculated in these two ways, Extension estimated that non-residents comprised between 74.4% and 75.0% of 2019 taxable sales that would be subject to a local option sales tax. In comparison, Extension previously estimated that 74.6% of 2016 taxable sales subject to a local option sales tax would come from nonresidents. This uses only the estimate of retail and service categories plus more easily estimated non-service categories. This conservative estimate of non-resident spending was calculated using the same categories with 2019 data as the 2016 data from the original report.  

It is anticipated that a new study will be conducted by the University of Minnesota Extension Center when data from 2020 is published in spring 2022. As lodging and retail are major portions of Bloomington’s sales and use tax, it is anticipated that there will be a COVID impact on the 2020 data.  Should legislation be approved by the state legislature for a local sales tax, and the voters of Bloomington approve the projects, then each project will receive full analysis of the volatility of future revenues by the City’s municipal advisor. 

The data available for Extension to study was from 2019 because that was the most recent information from the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The study will be updated this year with data from 2020, the most recent information available from the Minnesota Department of Revenue.