2014 Sales and Use Tax Law Change Information

2014 Sales and Use Tax Law Change Information 03/28/2014 Information on the following 2014 sales and use tax law changes is now  available on our website: Capital equipment Repair and maintenance labor Storage and warehousing services Telecommunications equipment More information about the tax law changes in general can be found on the  “Tax Law Changes” section of our website.

Questions? Contact Us Visit our website: www.revenue.state.mn.us STAY CONNECTED: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Preferences  |  Help

Ernergency Planning: Preparing for Spring Storms

Key Points

• Storms and flooding can damage your facility and equipment.
• Advance planning will help to keep your staff safe and minimize damage to your facility.
• Continuity planning can keep operations going during an outage or after facility damage.

Source: www.sxc.hu

While spring is a time of renewal, storms and flooding can be devastating in terms of facility damage and lost revenues. Are you prepared? Storm readiness should include emergency action procedures to ensure the safety of your staff and facility, as well as adequate backup power to keep your critical equipment functioning in case of an outage.

Storm safety procedures

Follow these steps to keep your staff and facility safe from harm in the event of a spring storm:

• Create an emergency action plan that includes evacuation procedures, contact information for local first responders and emergency contact information for all employees.
• Keep supplies in an emergency preparedness kit; include water bottles, non-perishable food, blankets, first-aid supplies, flashlights and a battery-powered radio.
• Contact your state emergency management office for information about local shelters, evacuation plans, emergency exit routes and so on.
• Keep the grounds around your facility free of heavy debris that could be tossed around in the wind, and trim trees to prevent limbs from falling on buildings.
• Choose a safe area where occupants can gather if a storm or tornado warning is issued. This area should be located in a basement or a ground-level room with no windows.

Preventing damage from floods

Flooding can damage building structures, and destroy critical equipment and valuable records. The following measures can help reduce your risks from flooding:

• Develop a flood emergency plan. Features of the plan should include flood-proofing measures, emergency contacts, evacuation procedures and so on.
• Coordinate an emergency response team. Assign responsibilities to specific employees for carrying out different aspects of the flood emergency plan.
• Create an evacuation plan. Outline transportation procedures to avoid confusion among employees. Make sure all employees are familiar with the evacuation procedures and practice them regularly.
• Prioritize equipment and records. Keep a detailed listing of the equipment and records that must be moved to a higher elevation or removed from the premises.
• Consider flood proofing. Depending on the risk of flooding in your area, permanent flood-proofing measures may be a good investment. These include reinforcing walls, building flood walls and installing watertight doors and drainage measures to control the flow of water.

While flooding can occur almost anywhere, some areas are at higher risk. Flood insurance should be a part of every facility's flood prevention strategy, particularly for those facilities located in high-risk areas. For more information, contact your insurance carrier or the National Flood Insurance Program.

Keeping outdoor workers safe

Outdoor workers are exposed to a variety of weather conditions, but lightning poses a particular threat. Businesses with fleet vehicles or outdoor work crews should have a plan in place to keep workers safe in case of a lightning storm. The following are some general safety tips:

• Monitor weather conditions for reports of severe weather conditions in your area.
• Educate employees on safety procedures to be followed in case of severe weather, including what shelter is available to them.
• Inform employees to avoid metal objects, open areas or water.
• Make sure workers wait until at least 30 minutes after the last lightning strike before returning to work.

After the storm

While your electric power is very reliable, outages do happen. Facility damage can also result in long-term downtime. By planning ahead, you can keep your facility operating.
Backup power. Dependable backup power is necessary to maintain mission-critical equipment during an outage. Diesel systems are the most widely used and typically have the lowest initial costs. However, diesel generators use large on-site storage tanks that require refilling and must meet strict environmental regulations. Natural gas units often cost more to install, but offer a continuous source of fuel. Operate generators according to manufacturer's recommendations, and never connect generators to your electrical system; they can backfeed and endanger line workers.
Continuity planning. A continuity plan is a comprehensive statement of actions to be taken during (and after) a storm or any other emergency that interrupts operations. The objective is to continue operations and return to full capacity as quickly as possible. When creating a plan, ask yourself a few simple questions. What processes are essential in order to keep your facility running? What can be set aside? How would you accomplish critical functions and where would you get the necessary resources? Carefully evaluate your organization to identify which staff, procedures, materials and equipment are essential to remain in operation.

Simple Payback: Calculate the Savings

 

 

 

Key Points

• Simple payback is the most widely used financial analysis tool for energy-efficiency projects.
• To calculate simple payback, divide the total cost of the project by the annual energy savings.
• Payback is easy to calculate, but often provides a limited view of the benefits of an energy project.

An energy-efficiency upgrade is just one of many investment options to choose from when looking to reduce costs and increase revenue. There are a variety of analysis tools available for weighing the costs and benefits associated with an investment and helping you decide whether the choice is financially sound. Payback is the simplest and most widely used analysis tool.

How soon will I get my money back?

This is the most basic question in any investment. In analyzing an energy-efficiency project, payback tells you how long it will take until you realize a return on your investment. Simple payback looks at the amount of time—typically in years—for the total cash flow from a project to reach zero. Cash flow includes any initial and subsequent costs associated with an energy project, as well as any savings directly relating to it.
How does simple payback help you analyze different investment options? The following payback calculations for two lighting upgrade options provide an example. Option A has an initial cost of $12,000, and an annual savings of $4,000, while option B has a lower initial cost of $10,000, but an annual savings of only $2,500. To calculate simple payback (SP), divide the initial costs by the annual savings.

Which is the better investment? In this analysis, option A is the better choice, despite the higher initial cost. The investment is recovered in three years, rather than four years, as with option B.

Using simple payback

As a financial analysis tool, simple payback has a number of advantages. It is quick and easy to use, and readily fits into calendar-driven budgets and operating goals. Simple payback is best applied when:

• Costs are relatively small for your budget
• Only one significant operating cost, such as electricity, is involved
• Annual cash flows are steady
• There is a simple operating comparison, such as high-efficiency equipment versus a standard unit

Some equipment examples where simple payback provides useful insight for investment options include exit signs, lamps, lighting fixtures and building controls.
While it is a practical tool, simple payback often provides only a limited view of the potential benefits of an energy project. It does not account for cash flows after the payback period; therefore, it may short-change any positive, long-term value associated with the project. Also, this tool treats money in its present day value; ignoring the principle that money received in the future tends to be less valuable than money received today. More sophisticated financial analysis methods, such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), examine the changing value of money and how it can influence actual return on investment. 

Motivate Your Employees to Volunteer in the Community

We have been asked several times in the past year how businesses can encourage their employees to volunteer in their community. Here is some information that we hope will be useful.

More Companies Encourage Workers To Volunteer, On The Clock

by Annie Baxter

August 14, 2013 4:52 PM

from MPR

Listen to the Story

All Things Considered

4 min 0 sec

• Playlist
• Download
• Transcript

 

Jeffrey Thompson /MPR

You're not likely to find many bankers wearing those old stereotypical green visors these days. But at U.S. Bank, some employees sport hairnets — at least when they're serving breakfast.

Every Friday morning, a group of U.S. Bank employees stands elbow to elbow at a Minneapolis soup kitchen, doling out French toast, sausage and other breakfast goodies. Most of the people getting free breakfast are homeless men who lug their belongings in plastic bags.

Lisa Eriksson manages vendor relationships for U.S. Bank, but on this day she's the French toast lady. If the bank didn't give her this opportunity, Eriksson says, she'd never volunteer.

"I'm a mom — a full-time mom and work full time. And so, having this added into my day has been a great thing," she says. "When we start seeing the faces of the people we're serving, everyone's very happy and grateful. It's a very human side of it. It's pretty emotional."

U.S. Bank employees can draw up to 16 hours of pay per year for doing things like serving breakfast to the homeless or reading to kids, and this kind of thing is happening at lots of other companies nationwide.

Replicating Law Firms' Pro Bono Work
Every year, the Society for Human Resource Management surveys employers about the benefits they offer. This year, about 20 percent said they give their workers a bank of paid time off specifically for volunteering, up from 15 percent in 2009.

"Companies love to have their employees believe that they're engaged in meaningful and important work," says Jeffrey Pfeffer, who teaches organizational behavior at Stanford University. While it may seem odd that companies would let workers volunteer during office hours, he says, consider that the legal profession has done it for years. It's called pro bono work, and it gives lawyers the chance to pursue cases with social impact.
"Studies of the legal profession show oftentimes that the pro bono work is the work that people enjoy the most, and therefore, I think, helps law firms retain lawyers," Pfeffer says.

Ideally, people's daily work would be fulfilling, he adds. But if that's not the case, volunteer programs can help make workers feel more engaged — and keep them from quitting, which is costly.

That's a big deal at a time when many employees are unhappy with their jobs. A recent Gallup report concluded that 70 percent of full-timers in the American workforce feel disengaged.

Keeping Workers Engaged — And On The Payroll
You might think the simpler way to placate those workers would just be to pay them more. But Jason Averbook, a human resources consultant with the firm Appirio, says "fun" often outweighs pay.

"If I like what I do, I'm excited about getting up in the morning, I like the people I work with, I'm gonna stay, even if my merit increase is not what I expect it to be," Averbook says.

U.S. Bank says employee satisfaction and enthusiasm have never been higher, though it's unclear how much of that can be attributed to the bank's paid volunteer program.

Back at the soup kitchen, Eriksson says the program does make her feel more connected to her employer. "It's really a nice thing to know that the employer you work for is so invested into the community," she says. "It feels very good."

And for the bank, it costs a lot less to let Eriksson help out the homeless for a day or two per year than it would to replace her if she quit.
 

New City of Jackson Energy Efficiency Loan Program

The City of Jackson has created a new loan program specifically to provide local businesses with very affordable funding of up to $5,000 and easy repayment to help you upgrade lighting and equipment to save energy and money. Check out the new flyer below and contact City Hall for more information.

 



 

Annual Energy Review: Seven Things to Look For

This is information provided by the Jackson Municipal Utilities Questline Newsletter. It's great information for every business to know. Consider upgrades where needed in your business and contact the City office for information about their new Loan Incentive Program for Bright Energy Solutions(R) Projects. More about that in our next Blog.

 

Annual Energy Review: Seven Things to Look For

Key Points

• Performing an annual energy review will help you spot cost-saving opportunities.
• Start by benchmarking your energy use and examining your major building systems.
• Specific areas to look at include building controls, plug loads, maintenance practices and personal appliance use. 

Source: www.energy.gov

Annual energy reviews help to identify cost-saving opportunities and increase overall building efficiency. Start by finding out how your facility's energy use stacks up against similar facilities. Examine your utility bills over the last three years and compare your energy consumption using the Commercial or Industrial Energy Benchmark tools. 
While large building systems are a logical next step in an annual review, there are a number of other areas that can also have a significant impact on your energy costs. As you examine your facility, look for the following: 

1. T12 lamps. Are there T12 fluorescent lamps in your office or production areas? As of July 2012, most T12 lights are no longer manufactured for sale in the United States due to federal energy-efficiency regulations. While there is no requirement for facilities to switch, maintaining T12 lighting systems will become increasingly difficult and expensive. Now is a perfect time to make the move to higher efficiency T8 or T5 bulbs.
2. Building controls. Are your building controls properly tuned? Energy-management systems can substantially reduce operating costs, but it is easy to forget about them once they are up and running. This can be a costly mistake. Over time, sensors, thermostats and other controls can become out of tune. Ensure that all energy-management system components are calibrated properly and updated to reflect seasonal changes and occupancy schedules.
3. Plug loads. While all electrical devices are plugged in, plug load is the energy used by computers, office equipment, vending machines and similar devices. Plug load accounts for up to 30 percent of the electricity used in commercial buildings and much of it is wasted. To reduce plug load, turn off equipment on nights and weekends, and use power management settings on computers and office equipment. Network all printers and use timers to shut down vending machines and other break room devices.
4. Landscaping. Take a look at the area outside your facility. A well-designed landscape can reduce cooling costs by 15 to 50 percent and heating bills by 25 to 40 percent, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Leafy trees on the south and east sides of your building will provide cooling shade in the summer while evergreen trees on the north and west sides will reduce heating costs by protecting your facility from cold, winter winds. It may take some time, but the rewards could be worth the wait. 
5. Maintenance. Maintenance is often reactive and limited to repairs and keeping equipment operating effectively. Scheduled, preventive maintenance strategies for lighting and building systems can save on energy costs and keep building occupants comfortable and productive all year long. A successful preventive maintenance program requires written procedures, training and documentation. For more information, see Energy Smart Building Maintenance.  
6. Fan system performance. While fan systems are critical to indoor comfort and productivity, making them work harder than necessary wastes energy. Matching airflow to your actual needs can save on operating costs and improve your indoor environment. Variable-frequency drives can reduce energy losses by slowing fan speeds during periods of low demand. Switching to inlet vane dampers can help reduce overall fan load. Regular cleaning and routine belt inspection and tightening can increase fan system efficiency.
7. Personal appliances. While personal appliances, such as space heaters and mini-refrigerators, can increase employee comfort and convenience, they are difficult to control from an energy-management standpoint. Widespread use of these appliances can increase your utility costs substantially. Establish policies that limit the use of personal appliances or discourage their use by maintaining a comfortable work environment and providing access to appliances in common areas, such as break rooms.  

For a more detailed evaluation, spend a few minutes with the Facility Assessment Wizard. After a short interview process, you will receive a detailed report addressing your facility's needs, challenges and opportunities.

Don't Landfill It, Exchange It!

If you could find a way to keep usable items from your business out of the landfill and help another business that could use it, would you? Check out this opportunity.

Minnesota Material Exchange Website

 

 

About

The Minnesota Materials Exchange is the waste-not classifieds especially for:  

• Minnesota businesses
• Industry
• Non-Profits
• Institutions

The Materials Exchange is a free service that links organizations that have reusable goods they no longer need to those who can use them. This business reuse network helps prevent usable materials from becoming waste and saves users money.
The program is operated as part of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) at the University of Minnesota. MnTAP provides tailored pollution prevention and energy efficiency solutions for Minnesota businesses.

Using the Exchanges

1. View listings: You can view listings (available and wanted) without signing in. Click on "Exchange" at the top of the page and click between the tabs under "All Listings" to view different types of listings.
2. Post listings and contact users: Sign in or create an account to post listings and to view contact information for listings.
3. University of Minnesota employees: When you sign in with an account associated with your @umn.edu email address, you will see the University's private Virtual Warehouse under Exchange by default. To view non-University listings, select "All" or "Minnesota Materials Exchange" from the drop-down menu at the top of the exchange.
4. Remove listings and report exchanges: Please remove listings when they are no longer available or wanted and indicate the outcome of your listing. Please report exchanges.

Rules and Policies

The Minnesota Materials Exchange does not allow listings for:

• Live animals
• Illegal goods
• New (unused) items unless they would otherwise be discarded
• Household items
• Services

Listings on the Minnesota Materials Exchange must not include fees that exceed 20% of the current value.

Exchange of Hazardous Materials:

Each party has the legal responsibility to determine whether a listed material is a hazardous waste or a hazardous material. Both hazardous and solid wastes must be managed in accordance with all relevant regulations and laws. The exchange programs that contribute listings to this catalog are not responsible for determining what may constitute a hazardous material or hazardous waste or may create a hazardous situation. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, University of Minnesota, MnTAP and/or partner programs reserve the right not to list a material, to delist a material, or to edit information provided by the listing party.

Benefits

• Receive low- or no-cost materials
• Reduce purchase and disposal costs
• Free up storage space
• Avoid sending items to the landfill/incinerator

Help     Contact Us     About Us      Rules & Policies       Privacy

© iWasteNot Systems Inc. Tango Desktop Project licensed under GPL.