Several financially strapped suburban school districts are planning to ask local voters again this fall to provide some additional tax support. Most districts that failed to pass so-called excess levy referendums last November wrestled with deep budget cuts this year. They're eager to try another ballot initiative to prevent further cuts. But some district leaders say despite tight finances, the timing is still not right.

Last fall, a record 188 of Minnesota's 341 school districts held excess levy referendums, and most were successful. State law required the 58 that failed to wait a full year before returning to the ballot.

Voters in the Inver Grove Heights school district have rejected three consecutive levy proposals, but school leaders are undeterred. This year, they'll seek approval to raise an additional $1.7 million each of the next 10 years. The proposal is scaled back slightly from last year's version. Superintendent Jerry Robicheau says after cutting budgets by $4 million over the past three years, school board members had no choice but to try again...

"We came down to the fact that if we didn't do something this November, and waited a year, we're looking at two years before can do some reinstatement of programs for students," Robicheau said. "And so we felt it was important to move in the direction and let the voters of Inver Grove Heights decide as to whether they want their taxes impacted for a school levy."

The story is the same in more than a dozen metro districts, where defeated referendums translated into big budget shortfalls. The Anoka-Hennepin district will try again after voters rejected last year's request for $28 million a year over eight years. Osseo will seek approval for a levy request slightly smaller than the one rejected last year. Other districts planning, or still considering, levy votes include Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Fridley, Minnetonka, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale, Orono, Roseville, Richfield, Spring Lake Park and Stillwater.

Scott Croonquist of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts says many suburban residents want a another chance to support their local schools.

"Over the last several months we've seen our member school districts cut about $100 million out of their budgets," Croonquist said. "And so the voters have spoken clearly and their constituents have spoken clearly and urged many of these districts to put a referendum on the ballot because they don't want to see any more harm done to their educational program. They don't want to see their class sizes grow any more."

But some critics are not convinced school finances are desperate enough to tap local property taxpayers for additional help. David Strom of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota claims a few districts have played fast and loose with the budgets. He says a few bad apples have used phony cuts to set the stage for this fall's levy campaigns.

"There's no question that those districts that went out and cut transportation funding to make kids walk to school, that cut sports and very visible extra curricular activities, at least some of them were doing it to make the parents feel the pain," Strom said.

Strom says he thinks school districts should have to wait at least two years between levy referendums. He also says they should be required to submit referendums in congressional election years to maximize voter participation.

Officials in the Mounds View school district say this year's crowded election ballot is one reason they've decided to wait until 2003 to hold another levy vote. School Board Chairwoman Barb Bollum says it would be too hard to get their message to voters through the clutter of all the other political campaigns. She's also concerned about the perceived risk of consecutive defeats at the polls.

"Well your community develops a reputation for being non-supportive of public education," Bollum said. "And as a result it can affect property values, it can affect the economic livelihood of the community, etc. And we wanted to make sure that when we went out again we had community support and the community behind us to keep us afloat.

Officials in the Bloomington school district are also waiting until 2003 to try another levy. Local school boards face a Sept. 17 deadline to place referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Reading, Writing and Revenue (6/3/02)