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Nornes protecting school levies
Published 12:00pm Wednesday, March 4, 2009Rep. Bud Nornes is at the forefront of an effort to protect district operating levies from easily being overturned.
The bill, sponsored by Nornes, calls for petition regulation changes for districts whose citizens are seeking to overturn operating levies.
Currently, a district is required to collect one percent of the public’s signatures in order to revoke an operating levy. Nornes’ bill calls to increase that number to 30 percent.
In September, the Frazee-Vergas School District was in danger of having its operating levy overturned, after opposition successfully collected one percent of the public’s signatures. The referendum for the levy had passed in November 2007 with 61 percent of the public’s support.
Because of technical errors, the petition did not legally hold up.
That scare for the Frazee District inspired Nornes to get behind an effort which he says will help withhold voters’ decisions, while also allowing the democratic process to move forward.
“I just think that you’ve got the election and you’ve got the results of the election, and in most cases, that’s the final word,” Nornes said,” and whatever the results are, that’s what you live with.”
For districts that have passed operating levies, having such plans overturned would radically alter plans.
“The consequences are pretty severe,” Nornes said.
Other schools carrying operating levies within Norne’s district include Fergus Falls and Rothsay. Although neither school has approached Nornes on the issue, they are behind the effort, as are all schools within Norne’s district, he said.
At this point, the bill has gone through two house committees, with the next stop likely the finance committee.
“That may be the last committee that it has to see,” Nornes said.
That’s a decision left to committee administrators and chairs, who will also decide whether the bill will stand alone, or be rolled into a larger education bill.
