Rochester School District Takes Advantage of New Minnesota Law to Extend Tax Without Referendum
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Rochester Public School District is taking advantage of a new state law to maintain a tax-fueled funding stream without holding a referendum.
Read More: Rochester School Board Public Hearing on Operating Levy Extension
The Minnesota legislature passed the law last year. It allows school districts to extend an operating levy that was previously approved by voters for 10 years without holding a new referendum.
Districts are allowed to extend previously passed referendums once under the new state law.
The Rochester School Board held a special session that featured a public hearing on the proposal to extend the district’s operating levy, which was approved by voters in 2015, for another decade.
Some community members spoke out against the proposal, urging district leaders to take an extension of the tax back to the voters. The levy passed in 2015 by 247 votes.
Upon completion of the public hearing, the board voted unanimously to extend its 2015 operating levy and adjust it for inflation.
The proposal allows the school district to continue collecting the approximately $17 million in revenue generated by the property tax through 2035.
The school board still plans to seek additional property tax dollars to address a structural budget shortfall through a new referendum this year.
Superintendent Kent Pekel has previously stated that he is preparing to recommend a referendum in either August or November. Last year a $10 million per year technology referendum failed by just over 300 votes.
The district planned to enact drastic budget cuts in the next school year that included the closure of multiple school buildings, but those cuts were temporarily delayed by a $10 million donation from Mayo Clinic.
Pekel has said the school district would be facing the need to make major cuts if additional revenues cannot be secured.
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