Greetings from Moorhead,
I hope everyone had a great summer and enjoyed the hot weather we had. It’s not every year that Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day weekends are all so nice. I certainly had a very busy and enjoyable summer.
Folks have been asking me about a couple of issues lately, namely the special session and the return of Political Contribution Refund program. I also want to give an update on what the E-12 education and property tax relief bills will mean for our district.
The special session will be called to order on September 9th at 10 a.m. The session will focus on appropriating $4.5 million in state funds to match FEMA disaster assistance for 18 counties in central and southern Minnesota affected by storms and flooding earlier this year. The funds come from storm damage relief left over from last year. Governor Dayton reviewed Minnesota state law to determine if a special session had to be called or if he had authority to use the leftover money without legislative approval; however, legislative approval is required. Also, $219,141 already appropriated earlier this year for relief from ice storms in Rock County, Nobles County and Worthington is likely to be repurposed in the form of grants.
There was discussion to use the special session to repeal the business to business taxes passed in the Omnibus Tax Bill earlier this year. Early revenue returns in July showed $26.8 million in additional revenue could be used to repeal the farm equipment repair tax. The repeal of the other three business-to-business taxes would cost the state $310 million, and no solution was found to plug that hole in the state budget. Although Governor Dayton, Speaker Thissen and Senate Majority Leader Bakk were ready to move forward with the repeal of the farm equipment repair tax, other legislators demanded that all the taxes be repealed or none. We will have to wait until next session to look at a repeal of these taxes.
The Political Contribution Refund program is back this year. Any contribution of $50 made by an individual or $100 made by a married couple to a legislative or statewide candidate (non-federal) or political party unit between July 1 and December 31, 2013, is eligible for a full refund. The candidate or political party unit will send a receipt of contribution back to the donor. The donor will then submit the receipt, along with a form, to the Minnesota Department of Revenue for the refund. The donor does not have to wait until he or she files income taxes in order to send in the receipt and form. The form and more information can be found by going to this link: http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/individuals/individ_income/Pages/Refund_for_Political_Contribution.aspx.
The numbers have come in for both the E-12 education and property tax relief bills passed this year. The Moorhead school district will see $3.2 million in new money over the current biennium with specific dedications to all-day kindergarten and special education. Also, a provision in the Omnibus Tax Bill will give the Moorhead School District $887,000 in referendum levy aid over the biennium. I want to give a lot of credit to Superintendent Kovash, Asst. Superintendant Kazmierczak and the Moorhead School District for starting all-day kindergarten this year. Funding from the state to cover the program does not kick in until the 2014-2015 school year; however, the Moorhead School District knows the value of reaching kids as early as possible and took the initiative to begin the program this year. The 2013-2014 school year started with 492 students enrolled in all-day kindergarten.
Moorhead has been certified for $287,740 in new Local Government Aid for 2014 (the total 2014 certified amount is $7,078,368); Oakport Township will see an estimated $1,152 in Township Aid for 2014 and Clay County will see an estimated $550,834 in new County Program Aid for 2014 (the total estimated 2014 amount is $2,915,281). Also, the average home owner in Clay County will see a property tax refund increase of $176, while the average renter will see a renter’s credit increase of $118 as a result of changes to the Homestead Credit Refund program (these numbers are based on projections from the governor’s office, the Department of Revenue and House Research Staff).
Thank you all for staying in contact with me over the interim. This is the time of year when ideas are put forward, research is done and bills are written. It is very important to be ready to go when the 2014 session begins, especially since the session starts so late in February, so I truly appreciate new ideas and thoughts to address issues folks have.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben