In the Senate Taxes Committee Wednesday, Senator Grant Hauschild (DFL-Hermantown) presented a bill to increase state funding aids to townships along with monies for local government aid and ambulance services (see separate story).
Joined by a wide range of local officials from northeastern Minnesota, Hauschild presented three bills increasing state aid for key state funding programs. Senate file 4247, links Local Government Aid and County Program Aid to inflation, a necessary step in ensuring the purchasing power of local budgets is maintained without passing property tax increases onto residents.
The second, Senate file 3757, increases Town Aid for the first time since the program’s inception in 2014 delivering an additional $1.5 million for townships across the state. The state previously budgeted $10 million a year but a funding formula didn’t allow for the full amount to be spent. In 2022, just $9.2 million was spent. Hauschild’s bill changes the funding formula to spend all of the $11.5 million provided in his proposed legislation.
The third, SF 4422, increases funding for the newly established Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) Aid program to $16 million a year, a $4 million increase to help the 88 SWCD districts across the state fulfill their soil and water conservation programs.
“Together these programs provide essential funding to helping the unique challenges facing our rural communities, but they haven’t kept up with the high rate of inflation in recent years,” said Hauschild. “By increasing aid to these programs, we can not only make up for these effects, but ensure long-term and equitable funding that will guarantee stability for our rural communities.”
All four bills were laid over for possible inclusion in a future Tax Omnibus Bill.