Published Nov. 16, 2003 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
On Nov. 4, voters in Hibbing and Chisholm supported excess levy school referenda by impressive margins. They joined voters across the state who supported 75 percent of all proposed school district excess levies, which are becoming more common amid changes in the state education funding system. Citizens voted this way knowing that it would mean a property tax increase during tough economic times.
What does this mean?
Well, first it means that the majority of people believe that good schools are worth the money it costs to maintain them. Here on the Iron Range, where suburb public education over the past century has lifted thousands from poverty to prosperity, this is a continuation of tradition. But it is notable that almost all of the districts in the tax-conscious Twin Cities suburbs also agreed to fund quality public schools.
Second, it means that Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his allies have successfully begun the shift of funding basic government services with the income tax, which is based on a person’s ability to pay, to the property tax, the most regressive form of taxation on the books. That might look good on the state’s ledger, but it hurts the average Minnesotan in a big way.
If we must rely on local property taxes to fully fund our schools and public services, you can be assured that many retirees will be forced to sell multi-generational family land and potential new homeowners will have a much harder time breaking out of rental situations. Considering that the Iron Range is home to many retirees facing reduced pensions and seeks to attract new homeowners to spur our economy, this is very troubling.
It is true that it is a good idea to use property tax levies as a form of local control over district finances. It is also true that many districts could improve the way they spend money and reshape their priorities. Districts on the Iron Range need to get serious about consolidation in many instances. However, the state should also do its part to ensure that all districts meet a certain standard with its funding. Otherwise, property rich areas will always prosper at the expense of lower property value communities. That’s the whole motivation behind the Minnesota Miracle movement of almost 30 years ago that created the greatest economic growth in the state’s history.
Last year, Pawlenty and the Republican House majority gutted local government aid, one part of the state’s tradition of ensuring rural prosperity. Now school funding in rural areas faces a similar fate. If rural districts aren’t able or willing to jack up property taxes, then they are sentenced to a lifetime of schools that are inferior to those in wealthier districts. We haven’t completely abandoned state funding for education or local government aid, but that’s the direction we’re headed.
The only outcome of this twisted plan is the continued mistaken perception that life in the suburbs is better than life anywhere else. All regions of Minnesota – the suburbs, the inner cities, the farms, the woods and the Iron Range – all of them are important parts of our identity. Let any of these regions die and we are less of a state. The quality of public education and government services in a region is a primary factor in its economic health. The callous attitude on the part of some state officials toward Iron Range cities and school districts reluctant to slash their tradition of excellence is not helping. The state has done a great job of passing off problems to local government, but is woefully short on any sort of advice for those governments to do their jobs.
By the way, “shrivel up and die slowly” is not good advice, no matter how well it is phrased.
If we let rural Minnesota falter, all we are doing is accelerating urban sprawl and widening the disparity between Minnesota’s duel economies. That’s no goal to be proud of – even for Republicans.
So, lawmakers, take the voters message from this fall to heart. People want good schools and they’re willing to pay for them. It’s up to you to figure out how to do this in a fair way. A system based disproportionately on property tax levies is not fair.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for The Daily Tribune.