If a furnace in an Edina or Stillwater school suddenly dies, the districts can raise residents’ property taxes to replace them without a referendum.

But if a furnace in a St. Peter or New Ulm school freezes up, those districts are out in the cold when it comes to tapping that same funding to pay for the replacement.

An existing school funding law allows 25 school districts to raise property taxes for maintenance funds without voter approval. Most of those schools are in the metro area, which means rural Minnesota is again treated as the bumpkin cousin when it comes to fair treatment. Why would a school building in Stillwater deserve a quicker fix than one in St. Peter?

Most districts qualified for the funding through a complex system that includes square feet of building space, age of buildings, enrollment and a 10-year approved facility plan. However, several districts were placed on the list by lawmakers who wanted to bring home some bacon to their constituents.

Recognizing the unfairness of some districts being able to tap tax money that other districts can’t, some lawmakers are proposing legislation that tries to tackle the funding disparity. The push back, of course, will be the proposed extra state funding that would be needed to alleviate the unfairness and the extra property taxes coming from the districts.

Rural districts have to fight hard to get voters to approve referendums that often contain projects that would simply maintain the buildings the districts already have. For example, in Forest Lake voters in five years twice rejected paying more taxes for capital projects. This year they’ll be asked for a third time to approve $161 million in capital requests, mostly for building repair and maintenance.

It’s up to the Legislature to figure out a way to fix this unfairness. And lawmakers adding their own districts to the limited number that benefit from the law is not the solution.

The Mankato Free Press

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