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School gets over $5 million for athletic facilities, Vets on Lake, Wolf Center, Pioneer Mine and trails all stand to gain from windfall
Millions of dollars will come to the Ely area as a result of 11th hour legislation passed Sunday night.
An omnibus tax bill, advanced by narrow Democratic majorities in both chambers of the legislature, was approved and includes a bevy of infrastructure and public works projects.
Those include an immediate $250,000 to the Ely School District for renovations at Veterans Memorial Field, the historic and heavily used baseball park located on the school campus, as well as an additional $5 million for upgrades to district athletic facilities.
Veterans on the Lake Resort stands to receive $400,000 for a housing facility replacement while $50,000 was set aside for the Pioneer Mine Historical Site in Ely for maintenance and displays.
While not in the tax bill, Ely’s International Wolf Center received $1.33 million through Senate environment legislation for improvements to its facility, and both the Prospector Loop ATV group and Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club received $25,000 each for trail maintenance and equipment.
The wealth was spread across the Iron Range with neighboring communities scoring windfalls for various projects, including a whopping $1.7 million for the city of Babbitt for park and ice arena renovations and disability access requirements.
“Keeping resources on the core Iron Range was my focus this legislative session,” said State Sen. Grant Hauschild (D-Hermantown). For too long, we’ve seen taconite proceeds leave the very communities and region they are produced in, but now we’re giving them back directly in property tax relief and investments in our core Range communities.”
Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely) said the last two years have been a whirlwind with the DFL in control of all three levels of state government.
“While there was a lot that happened these last two years that I did not support and voted against, I am pleased that Sen. Hauschild and myself were able to cut through the noise and work together to secure several major victories for our region.”
Hauschild referenced another item in the mineral article provision of the tax bill, It increases the Taconite Homestead Credit, which had been frozen since 1998. The new maximum is $515 per homeowner, bringing a 60 percent increase in property tax relief to over 35,000 families on the Iron Range.
While the property tax relief encompasses a vast assortment of people, numerous northeastern Minnesota entities will enjoy a windfall as a result of the legislation, which was backed by area lawmakers including Hauschild, State Rep. Dave Lislegard (D-Aurora) and State Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely).
School athletic facilities are in for a major facelift including Veterans Memorial Field, home to several tournaments and more than 100 games each year.
The $250,000 allocation figures to jumpstart improvements in advance of the next major event to be held in town - the 2025 American Legion Division II State Tournament.
A separate $5 million allocation will go to the school district for improvements, renovation and construction of athletic facilities across the campus.
“We know that baseball is something that’s really cherished in Ely and I’m excited to support that,” said Hauschild. “And in Ely we want to make sure we have some of the best facilities and schools and I think having a premiere athletic facility in Ely will be something people will cherish for generations.”
The legislation will also jumpstart numerous other projects including longsought renovations at the Wolf Center and Veterans on the Lake, and a series of improvements sought in Babbitt.
“A councilor and city administrator reached out to me about issues they have keeping up with ADA requirements that were pretty costly and they also had an ice arena that’s hard to provide upkeep on,” said Hauschild. “They approached me this spring and said they realized it may be too late but eventually they would be coming for this, but we were able to get it into the tax bill,” said Hauschild.
Babbitt also stands to benefit from a $600,000 allocation to St. Louis County School District 2142 to make cafeteria upgrades at schools including those in Babbitt and Tower.
“The school reached out to us and said a lot of the tables and chairs and cafeteria equipment was old and needed upgrades,” said Hauschild.
The legislation was part of a stormy finish to the 2024 session - one that produced some chaotic moments and fierce partisan divides.
Hauschild said the rhetoric came from the extremes of both political parties.
“What people don’t like is the nonsense and partisan bickering and all of the things that get in the way of us achieving results,” said Hauschild. “I think what we saw was members of the progressive wing of the Democratic party acting not in good faith and disappearing for awhile, and on the Republican side a lot of filibustering and trying to stall legislation that was pretty typical and common sense.
“What it led to was for those of us in the middle to use a procedure to shut down debate and move forward with a bill that delivered great results for the Northland. I think we need those in the middle to say to those on the far left and far fight that we’re not going to play these games anymore.”
“Even though a bonding bill did not pass this year, we were still able to find a creative way to make sure many local, public infrastructure projects could receive funding. I am proud that we could get this work done despite the dynamics that made this legislative session especially difficult,” said Skraba.
