Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Where did the support go for ISD 831ís Levy for Learning proposal?

School officials and members of the Yes for Schools are wondering this week after an excess levy operating proposal was handed a staggering defeat at the ballot box on Nov. 8.

Laurie Kumerow, chair of the Vote Yes committee, said this week 7000 positive voters were identified and there was optimism of a successful vote. The optimism was also bolstered by a random sample survey of voters commissioned by the district last spring that showed support for the $2 million levy expansion, she said.

Kumerow and Bill Bresin, president of the ISD 831 School Board, both expressed disappointment and sadness that the levy proposal was rejected.

As committee chair, Kumerow said she was still awaiting more details to help determine why the positive support did not materialize.

ìYou have to trust people,î Kumerow said. ìWe talked to people. A lot who said they will vote donít.î

School officials last week said the turnout total for the district election did not bode well either for passing the levy. The proposal called for the existing $6 million operating levy to be replaced by a new levy for five years that would raise an additional $2 million a year.

The cost impact was estimated at $92 a year for a home with $250,000 market value.

District 831 election officials listed the revised vote total at 8884 after complete counts from the four Lino Lakes precincts were provided by Anoka County on Nov. 10.

The district said 30.6 percent of the 29,000 registered voters in the district took part in the election.

The Nov. 8 vote also saw David Gay, Eric Langness and Julie Corcoran elected to the board. Gay and Langness ran campaigns in opposition of the levy proposal. Corcoran is a levy supporter.

More reaction

Kumerow said she was left to conclude the levy result demonstrates ìa lack of caringî on the part of many school district residents.

ìI am just really sad there is so much misplaced trust,î Kumerow said.

She said the district has done an excellent job of managing funds during several years of no new state money while dealing with statutory operating debt for two years. The financial business has been addressed while the district has worked hard to keep administrative costs low, help teachers and improve academic achievement of students.

But the message is not resonating with enough people, she said.

Based on the project cost, she said she was ìflooredî that the public was not willing to invest in schools.

ìPeople are still living in the past and mistrusting those in leadership roles,î she said.

If the district is to move forward, that trust must be found, Kumerow said.

The defeat of the levy, she said, does not move Forest Lake in the right direction. The fact the levy lost support in the large Forest Lake precinct (45 percent in support in 2003 to 40 percent in support in 2005) does not send a positive message to new families looking at the area as a place to live and raise families.

ìI am really concerned about people now moving out of this area,î Kumerow offered.

Bresin said he remains puzzled by the turnout, too.

ìThey didnít come out,î he said of the identified positive backers.

ìIt might be more of a tax issue,î he said. ìPeople didnít want to spend the money.î

Historical review

It has been demonstrated that a levy will pass if voters can be mobilized.

That was the case in 2001 when the current levy passed on a vote of 6558 to 5280.

The positive support fell off two years later when the district sought approval for an additional $2 million in general fund support and $2 million for technology.

The technology levy was defeated 5179 to 3140 while the operating levy lost on a tally of 5121 to 3662.

In all three elections, the levy opposition total ranged from 5120 to 5280. In only one of the four ballot questions did the support rise to a level where a question would pass.

Four years ago Forest Lake was among a select group of districts passing levies. This year, however, Forest Lake was among the small group of districts where levies lost.

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