The ayes have it! Both Tech Levy questions pass by large margin
The two-question special election regarding the adjusted Minneota Public School Tech Levy easily passed in a vote last Tuesday, May 9.
Question 1 was: To authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds not to exceed $2.45 million to be used to fund technology needs at the school. This would generate approximately $250,000 per year to fund technology needs.
Question 2 was: To revoke the current $500,000 per year Technology Levy and replace it with a smaller Tech Levy of $250,000 per year which would also be used to fund technology needs.
Question 1 passed by an 85-percent margin: Yes - 324, No - 57. Total votes - 381.
Question 2 passed by an 87-percent margin: Yes - 332, No - 48. Total votes - 380.
The school was not able to advocate for pass or fail on the voting for the special election.
“We could only do our best so property owners would understand what we were voting on. We’re happy with the result from the special election,” said Minneota Superintendent Scott Monson. “From a school perspective, this doesn’t impact us much in terms of budget or funding for technology. However, we didn’t want to ignore the situation, though. We wanted to do the right thing, so we brought it up for a special election. We understand how important the agriculture community is here.”
Following the results of the voting, agriculture property owners will pay significantly less had the tax levy not passed.
The State of Minnesota will now pay over 31 percent of the taxes from the $500,000 from the technology funding each year.
“Any time the state can pick up 31 percent of our Tech Levy, it’s a good thing,” Monson noted.
The error during the November Tech Levy vote had to do with the Ag2 School tax credit, which applies to bonds but does not apply to a levy. The projected property tax impact numbers shared for the original Tech Levy mistakenly included the Ag2 School tax credit.
Because of the complicated situation, the school sent out postcards to property owners explaining the two questions for the special election. There were also public meetings and detailed information on the school’s website.
“We appreciate the residents who took the time to go down to City Hall to vote,” Monson said.