Ballot results for school district levies

By Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio
Nov. 6, 2012

Forty Minnesota school districts have tax levy referendums on Tuesday's ballot.

About half of the requests ask voters to continue existing operating levies, while the other half ask for increases. The requests range from $1 per student to $2,000 per student, said Greg Abbott, spokesman for the Minnesota School Boards Association. One rural Minnesota district proposes reducing its operating levy by $300 per student.

Minnesota districts are required to get approval from voters to continue or increase their levies, which provide schools with local taxpayer funding to pay for operating expenses, like teacher salaries and classroom supplies, beyond what the state offers. A handful of districts are asking voters to pitch in tax money for building and technology projects.

Graph by Robert Boos, Minnesota Public Radio