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Politics

Voters in Byron, Austin say no to levy requests

11/4/2009 10:35:02 AM

Comments (25)

By Laura Horihan and John Weiss
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

BYRON -- It's back to the cutting board for Byron public schools after a proposed increase in its operating levy proved to be too much for taxpayers Tuesday.

Citizens voted 1,200-837 against increasing the current operating levy of $126 per pupil to $504 per pupil. If it had passed, the new levy would have run for five years and raised about $683,000 more each year. The district's budget is about $12.5 million.

The referendum became the center of controversy when the school board accused former member Phil Fuchs of providing false information in an flier that opposed the tax increases.

Fuchs refused to comment on the Tuesday's outcome, citing the complaint the school district has made against him.

Voters in Austin also shot down an operating levy increase, but proposals were approved in the Rushford-Peterson, Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Blooming Prairie school districts.

Byron

In Byron, residents and businesses had erected signs on their lawns, some saying "Wrong time! Vote No Nov. 3."

Jessup DeCook, a referendum opponent, said the no vote wasn't about education but the economy.

"I think it's money mainly," he said today. "Byron has a good school system; nobody's saying they don't have a good school system."

District residents voted to increase their school taxes a few years ago to pay for a new building, and "people are sick of paying taxes; taxes are too high," he said. "Enough's enough. ... We have to draw the line somewhere."

The district will have to cut the budget by another $300,000, said Superintendent Wendy Shannon. The board cut $500,000 from its budget last year.

"We certainly are very disappointed," she said. "The voters have indeed spoken."

The board can't come back to voters for another year.

Shannon said the district's administrative team will search for cuts and forward them to a finance committee, which will send them to the school board.

Elective classes, extracurricular and co-curricular activities could be reduced, and athletic fees will likely increase, Shannon said.

Rushford-Peterson

In the Rushford-Peterson school district, 121 votes put a referendum question into the win column. The vote was 623-502.

Passing the levy is a "tremendous sign from the district residents that they support education and the opportunities" provided to children in the district, Superintendent Chuck Ehler said Tuesday night. "On the behalf of the district, I'd like to thank the district residents for their vote of confidence in the work our educators do here for our children."

The levy revokes the existing excess levy of $840.19 per pupil and replaces it with a 10-year levy authority of $940.19 per pupil. It also includes a clause for inflation.

The additional revenue will help the district maintain daily operations, Ehler said.

The school board will have a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the high school biology room to canvass the election results.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa

In the Zumbrota-Mazeppa school district, voters approved a new levy 1,100-567.

Superintendent Richard Meyerhofer said the school continues to deal with declining enrollment, but passing the referendum should alleviate some program and staff cuts.

Citizens voted to replace a $700 levy with an eight-year levy that will provide a maximum of $950 per pupil.

The new levy will provide the district about $1 million a year compared to the $850,000 it has been receiving.

"As a school district, we still need to remain fiscally responsible, continue to monitor our programs and keep things evenly keeled," Meyerhofer said.

Blooming Prairie

Blooming Prairie schools asked voters to pass two levies.

The first question, which would replace an existing $350 levy, passed 655-647. The vote gives the district $700 per pupil for the next 10 years.

The second question, which would have given the district an additional $200 per pupil, failed 499-789.

"Passing the first question means we should be operating without huge cuts in the next couple of years," Superintendent Barry Olson said. "We'll have to wait and see what the state does, continue to watch our pennies and just hang on."

He said passing the second question would have supplied money for technology and other programs.

Austin

Although a pre-election survey indicated public support for it and despite a two-month district campaign, a levy proposal in Austin failed narrowly.

Of the 4,270 people who voted in the referendum, 48 percent said yes, but that wasn't enough to meet the 50 percent threshhold required for passage.

Superintendent David Krenz said he is disappointed and that the results mean officials didn't do enough to promote the referendum. He said voter turnout was "substantially lower than the last election."

"The other thing is that this is a pretty tough economy," he said. "The county has increased its taxes this year, so that may also be a part."

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There are 25 comments - Display All Comments

Lantern
rochester, mn

Posted on 11/4/2009 at 12:50:24 PM

Here’s an idea. Pay as you go. Let taxes pay for basic education. All extracurricular activities should be funded by those involved plus any and all donations. If there’s not enough interest to fund the activity then it is put to rest. This should apply across the board to both athletic and non-athletic activities. Perhaps if the performances are good enough, the public will be willing to pay more to view them.

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Voters in Byron, Austin say no to levy requests

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