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Proposals to change referendum funding

A couple of items came across the editorial desk this week that should catch the attention of those interested in school levy referendums — which ought to be each one of us.
Randall Thalmann, a rural Plato farmer and former Glencoe School Board member, dropped off a guest column outlining the reasons many farmers are asking the state to tax only a farm’s home and one acre of land for school building bond funding. Thalmann told us that while the proposal has been circulating quite awhile, the “why” behind it has not been adequately explained.
Most troubling to us is the the disparity for taxing farms for operating levies as compared to building levies. Farms are only taxed for the house and one acre for operating levies; the entire farm is taxed for building bonds.
Thalmann is proposing that the state not only create one uniform system for taxing farms for school referendums, but that it allow school districts some latitude in levying  funds for building repairs and upgrades without going to the public for approval — which is standard for other governmental units, in particular counties and cities.
The other item that crossed our desk this week is a news release from state Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, who has introduced legislation asking for reform of school levies, much as is proposed by Thalmann.
Gruenhagen goes a bit further — his legislation is asking that the state grant school districts a selection of options for how they wish to distribute the tax burden of voter-approved levies.
We like Gruenhagen’s approach. He always has been a strong proponent of local government, and his proposal will allow school districts to assess the composition of their local tax bases and pick an option for taxation that will be fairest to the majority of its constituents.
We applaud both men for challenging Minnesota’s long-entrenched property tax system. It’s long overdue, and we hope they make headway in bringing about some true reform.