Sen. Hauschild introduces tax bill to help fund rural school districts

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Northern News Now) - A northland lawmaker is hoping to increase funding for rural school districts through a change in property tax allocation.

DFL Senator Grant Hauschild, from Hermantown, is the chief author of the new bill. The proposal was first introduced in a Northern News Now special report last May.

The legislation would reverse changes made in the early 2000s that excluded seasonal property owners from paying school levies.

That meant taxes from high-end cabins and non-residential owners were distributed back to the state general fund instead of funding school referendums in the communities where the cabins existed.

According to Sen. Hauschild, the new seasonal tax base replacement aid program would bring hundreds of thousands of dollars back to those rural school districts.

Anne Oelke, Superintendent for Ely public schools, praised the bill in the Education Finance Committee meeting this week.

“This legislation is about fairness and equalization,” said Oelke. “The money generated by our non-residential taxpayers should be directed back into our district instead of being redistributed elsewhere.”

The Ely Public School District passed an operating referendum in November, but Oelke said the district is still struggling financially. She said the district is facing $460,000 in budget reductions this year.

Hauschild said this bill would not only allocate more funding to these rural districts but it would also potentially offset the cost of a levy by 50 percent for property owners.

The bill now has a hearing in the Senate Taxes Committee.

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