Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Tuesday plans to cut a total of $300 million to towns, cities, counties and townships, but said the cuts were “reasonable” and a lot smaller than expected.

This will equate to local government aid cuts of no more than 3.3 percent in 2009 and no more than 7.6 percent in 2010. The governor’s proposed cuts in January had those numbers at around 5 percent for 2009 and 10 percent for 2010.

Higher education took a substantial cut, but one that was less than proposed. The University of Minnesota and The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system will equally split a $100 million reduction.

http://www.greatermncities.org/index.html

http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/fin/budget

Health and human services also took a roughly $236 million cut, with a number of grants and services being affected.

K-12 education will get impacted in the form of payment deferrals of nearly $1.8 billion, though these funds will be paid in full by the end of the fiscal year.

For more information about local and state cuts, visit http://www.greatermncities.org/index.html or http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/fin/budget.

Visit the Herald Web site for further information.