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Disaster and Destroyed Property Tax Relief
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Declared Disaster Area

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A declared disaster area is a status that a city or county can apply for if they have been affected by a disaster or similar emergency. A declared disaster area does several things:

  • All property tax disaster relief described in the Disaster Relief section is reimbursed by the state
  • All damaged homesteaded dwellings will automatically receive a Homestead Credit
  • Any local option disaster credits or abatements are not prorated and therefore larger (more relief for property owners).

For these reasons, it is generally in the county’s best interest to apply for the status.

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Basic Requirements

A declared disaster area is distinct from all other local emergency or disaster determinations and cannot be declared by the county, the Department of Revenue, the governor, or any federal entity. It is a status that must be applied for and may only be granted by the Executive Council, made up of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, and secretary of state. The application must meet certain requirements to be approved by the Executive Council.

Declaration of Disaster or Emergency

For a jurisdiction to be designated as a declared disaster area there must be a declaration of disaster or emergency. This can occur in one of two ways:

  • A local emergency is declared under Minnesota Statute 12.29.
  • The president of the United States, the secretary of agriculture, or the administrator of the Small Business Administration determines that a disaster exists under federal law.

Find more information in the Local Emergency section.

Minimum Damage Thresholds

There are two minimum requirements that must be met to apply to be a declared disaster area:

  • The average damage to affected buildings must be at least $5,000.
  • At least 25 taxable buildings must be damaged.

When determining the number of damaged buildings, remember:

  • There is no minimum threshold of damage for a property to be counted towards the 25-building requirement.
  • Multiple buildings on a single parcel may count towards the minimum of 25 buildings.
  • Exempt buildings do not count towards this requirement, but buildings that pay no tax due to exclusions do count towards the requirement.
  • A jurisdiction with 24 or fewer damaged buildings can still qualify as a declared disaster area if those damaged buildings make up a large amount of the overall tax base. If the total dollar amount of damage to all taxable buildings equals or exceeds 1 percent of the total taxable market value of buildings in the jurisdiction, as reported on PRISM submission 2 in the year prior to the year of the damage, the jurisdiction can qualify.
  • This exception is extremely rare and generally the jurisdiction will qualify via the 25 damaged buildings requirement.

These qualifications are proven through a reassessment of all damaged property by the assessor. This reassessment must be completed for the Executive Council to approve an application for a declared disaster area. For more information, go to the Reassessment section.