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Committee hears request to restore sales‑tax exemption for Ducks Unlimited and similar bird conservation nonprofits
Summary
Senate File 345 would create a statutory sales‑tax exemption for nonprofit bird‑preservation organizations to restore a benefit the Department of Revenue says no longer applies under its current interpretation of case law; Ducks Unlimited and partners asked for the legislative fix.
Senate File 345 would provide a sales‑tax exemption for nonprofit bird‑preservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited on purchases used to preserve, restore or maintain waterfowl and upland game bird habitat, excluding construction materials, lodging and vehicle leases.
Mark Peterson, a long‑time Ducks Unlimited volunteer and former state chairman, told the committee Ducks Unlimited’s prior sales‑tax exemption — obtained in 1999 — was revoked by the Department of Revenue in 2023 after the agency applied a narrower interpretation of a 2007 Minnesota Supreme Court property‑tax case (Under the Rainbow). Peterson said the Department of Revenue encouraged seeking a statutory exemption rather than pursuing tax court litigation and that revenue staff helped draft the bill language.
Peterson detailed Ducks Unlimited’s conservation record in Minnesota, including more than $140 million invested and over 241,000 acres of habitat restored, and argued a statutory exemption would allow the nonprofit to leverage donations and grants more effectively. The committee received a fiscal estimate indicating the exemption would cost roughly $850,000 per year in out years.
Senators laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill after testimony; the author noted the Department of Revenue’s involvement in drafting language intended to resolve the agency’s current interpretation issue.
