Minnesota Permanent School Fund Amendment Could Mean More Money for St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids-Rice, Sartell Schools

(KNSI) – Minnesota voters will decide Tuesday on the Permanent School Fund amendment, a change to the state constitution that would send more money to public schools without raising income or property taxes.

The money comes from a fund built on timber sales, mining and other natural resources. The change could mean about $570,000 more a year combined for the St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids-Rice and Sartell-St. Stephen school districts.

The St. Cloud Area School District now receives just under $750,000 from the fund and could see about $300,000 more. Sauk Rapids-Rice received about $279,000 this past year and would get about $140,000 more, while Sartell-St. Stephen receives about $312,000 and would get about $130,000 more.

Amy Skaalerud, the St. Cloud school district’s executive director of finance and business services, says the lack of a tax increase makes this question different from what many voters might expect.

“So much of our school funding that shows up on ballots is tied to property taxes. And so I think a lot of times there’s just kind of an automatic assumption that that is the case.”

There’s no set formula, so St. Cloud’s increase is an estimate, according to Skaalerud. With possible state cuts to special education funding ahead, she expects the money would fill gaps rather than pay for anything new.

“It allows us to keep positions that if we lose revenue elsewhere, we would have to make budget reductions for,” Skaalerud explained.

Sauk Rapids-Rice Superintendent Bradley Bergstrom measures the extra $140,000 against the district’s full budget.

“In the grand scheme of a $67 million budget, it’s not a tremendously large amount of money, but every penny counts, and that’s why it’s important to us,” Bergstrom said.

He says the money could help the district add or keep teachers and paraprofessionals.

In Sartell-St. Stephen, Superintendent Mike Rivard says the money would land in the general fund as leaders weigh budget reductions and class sizes.

“It will go directly towards staffing to ensure that we can continue to do everything for our students,” Rivard told KNSI.

The fund dates to statehood in 1858, when land was set aside to support public schools. Most of the southern Minnesota land was later sold for farming and development, so 92% of the remaining trust lands are now in 10 northern counties. They are Koochiching, St. Louis, Itasca, Lake, Cass, Aitkin, Cook, Beltrami, Roseau and Hubbard, with Koochiching County alone holding more than a third of the acres.

Revenue from timber sales, mining and land leases on those lands goes into the fund, which the State Board of Investment invests. Bergstrom’s father, a logger for 50 years, paid a fee for wood he cut on public land, and part of that money went into the fund. Today it holds more than $2.3 billion.

Schools now get only what the fund earns in interest and dividends, a payout of about 2.5%. The amendment would raise that to 4.5% of the fund’s average value over the previous three years, an approach backed by a nonpartisan task force. Bergstrom says the three-year average would also make payments steadier and easier to plan around.

The question on the ballot reads, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to increase the funding going to all school districts from the permanent school fund, which is a fund that supports school districts without raising individual income or property taxes, effective July 1, 2027?”

Bergstrom also raised a caution of his own.

“I do think it is important that the listeners know that future legislators could change that 4.5%. It could go up, it could go down, depending upon what’s happening.”

He says there are guardrails, including that the fund must continue indefinitely and the money can only go to public, charter and tribal schools. According to the Minnesota House’s news service, the 4.5% payout could include part of the fund’s principal, not just its earnings.

For Sartell-St. Stephen, Rivard says the extra $130,000 would be about a 42% increase over what the district receives now.

“When you start thinking about staff members, curriculum, instructional materials, all of those areas, that type of increase would be very impactful as we go into the next school year.”

To pass, the amendment needs a yes from more than half of everyone who votes in the election, so skipping the question has the same effect as voting against it.

Bergstrom says the question will be on the front of the ballot in Stearns and Benton counties. As school officials, he and Rivard say they can’t tell people how to vote, but both point voters to their district websites for more information.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.

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