Editorial: Good call on returning money

• District 518

District 518

Talk about it

Local property taxpayers got an early Christmas present Tuesday night from the District 518 Board of Education.

The board, by a 4-2 margin, approved a one-time levy reduction of about $1 million for next year. Board members Lori Dudley., Joel Lorenz, Linden Olson and Brad Shaffer voted in favor of the action; Bob Jirele and Steve Schnieder were against it.

Lorenz gave a straight-forward explanation as to why the levy reduction was worth supporting. “We don’t think the taxpayers should pay more than they have to for the next year,” he said.

Given the current economic climate, any money that stays in the pockets of taxpayers is welcome. And, regardless of how the economy’s doing, it seems only fair taxpayers pay only what’s truly necessary for district operations.

On the other hand, Schnieder is by no means out of line when giving his rationale for opposing the levy reduction. “We have a new governor and new legislative control and we have a $6 billion deficit in the state of Minnesota,” he stated, noting he didn’t feel a levy change was wise given the fiscal uncertainty at the state level.

Indeed, no one knows what will happen with future education funding in St. Paul, given there’s now a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled legislature. But it seems that in the midst of such speculation, it’s better District 518 doesn’t take more than it needs from the local hands that feed it. However, no one should be surprised at a levy increase in the next budget cycle.

Tags: opinion, editorials, worthington, district518