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9-28-2001

The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce supports public education and recognizes the importance of quality education to the business interests of our members and to the future of our community. The Chamber's recent collaboration and communication with Independent School District No. 709 led to the Chamber's support of the excess tax levy referendum established in 1999. The referendum funded the replacement of Public Schools Stadium and improvements to other properties.

The Chamber's decision to back that legislation was due in large part to the disciplined, detailed plan presented for utilization of the projected funding. The school district provided the Chamber and the community with the assurance that they needed.

It appears that our community will once again be asked to support a tax levy referendum this November. We should expect to see the same level of communication, detail and discipline surrounding this proposed tax levy referendum as we saw in 1999.

Questions like the following will need to be answered: How has the school district solicited input from the community on this referendum? Has the community been involved in the design of the levy, the programs it will finance and the measurable results it hopes to achieve? What problems will be solved with revenue from the levy? How will the school district measure the results of solutions? What steps did the school district take to meet needs by using existing resources? What has the district done to reduce expenses?

Simply stated, taxpayers should expect measurable results in return for new education dollars. We must also fully understand that the Duluth School Board is asking for an annual allocation of $4 million from local taxpayers with the prospect of receiving an additional $2 million each year from the state for a five-year period. Hence, we are voting on a $30 million tax levy and not a $6 million expenditure.

The position of the Chamber on this issue is as yet undecided: Tax relief for business has been a top priority for the Chamber in recent years. Now Minnesota is finally prepared to take our state out of the top 10 most heavily taxed states in the nation. Consequently, we are reluctant to support a $30 million tax levy unless it is unequivocally needed.

Asking for a referendum is easier than making the tough decisions associated with a declining student population. Community members must insist that the school district present a convincing case for the referendum before Duluth receives $30 million in taxpayer support over the next five years. The school board was able to do so in 1999. It is its singular challenge to do so again in 2002.

David Ross is the executive director of the Duluth Chamber of Commerce.