School boards in Minnesota may now renew property tax levies that pay for things like classroom materials and career and technical programs, a responsibility that until now rested with voters who elected those officials.
But they can only do it once.
That's the upshot of a new law that went into effect late last month when Gov. Tim Walz signed the sweeping education bill that Minnesota lawmakers largely passed along party lines.
"This has been a membership-supported position for a number of years," said Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA).
School districts must still go to voters when they first seek a new property tax levy. But critics of the new law say it dilutes voters' say in how their tax money is spent when levies come up for renewal. Osseo School Board Member Tanya Simons argues that referendums represent "important oversight for our constituents."
"It gives them the power to tell us whether they agree with how we're using taxpayer money," she said.
Simons told her peers on the Osseo School Board she couldn't support lobbying in favor of the law back in December. Now that it's passed, Simons said she'd likely vote against a levy renewal if it came up for a vote in her district.
"It would be a little self-serving to say we know how the majority of our constituents would want us to vote," she said.
