During the School Board meeting on Monday night, Val Mertesdorf, the Director of the Northfield School District Finances gave an updated 
budget forecast that projected shortfalls over the next several years.
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann said the district has been praised over the years for the way it handles its finances, and singled Mertesdorf out specifically for the job she does. The district tries to maintain a reserve fund balance equal to 14% of the budget from year to year. Mertesdorf’s update showed that balance will be at 12% at the end of the current school year, and at 10% at the end of the 2023-24 school year. If the district intends to financially operate the way it has in the past, he said there will have to be more adjustments made to the budget in the coming months.
There are several factors that are working against the district at the moment, the first of which is inflation. Every aspect of society is feeling the pinch of higher prices, he said, and the school district is no different. He said the property insurance premiums for all of the district facilities has increased by $50,000 over this time last year. Classroom materials are costing more as well. Hillmann said this situation is the very reason they try to keep money in reserve in the first place.
“This is why it’s important to have a reserve. It’s a cascading amount of pressure, and everybody knows that when they see these prices that they’re experiencing as consumers. So, just think about that on a much larger scale as a school district. We’ve been lauded many times for excellent financial management, but no school, even with the best financial management, can outrun [the combination of] declining enrollment and the inflationary pressure.”
Declining enrollment is another factor. Like every other school district in Minnesota, Northfield receives the majority of its school funding from the state government, and the amount is calculated based on the number of students in a district. Hillmann said, as he has many times, that the district is suffering from “chronic underfunding” by the state of Minnesota and called for the state to increase the basic per pupil formula, tie those increases to inflation, and eliminate its unfunded mandate.
“And we’re asking that they fully fund, and when I say fully fund, I mean pay every penny of every district in the state, the special education cross subsidy. The special Education cross subsidy is something we’ve talked about many times before. It’s the general fund money that we pay for required, and I would say morally imperative, services to students with disabilities for which the school district is not reimbursed.”
Governor Tim Walz, yesterday, rolled out his proposed budget for the next biennium, which did include substantial increases in education funding. It is unclear, if passed, how that would affect the Northfield district issues.
City continues quest to build Mill Towns Trail section
During the current legislative session, the City of Northfield will be once again asking the State of Minnesota to help build the section 
of the Mill Towns Trail that would run through Northfield.
City Engineer Dave Bennett said the city will ask for help from the next state bonding bill, whenever that happens. The project was in consideration for a potential bonding bill in 2022, however, the legislature adjourned before the bill was passed. This year the city is making a request that is very similar to the one that was submitted last year, adjusted for inflation.
The proposal is for a project costing $11.7 million that would build the six-and-a-half-mile section of the bicycle trail running from the Waterford Iron Bridge through Northfield, down Jefferson Parkway and connect with Dundas. The city would pay approximately $3.5 million, while the remaining $8.2 million would come from the state.
The trail, which, when complete, would connect Faribault to Cannon Falls over 25 miles of bicycle trail, has been in the planning process for more than two decades. A section of the trail that runs between Dundas and Northfield was built more than 20 years ago, but little has happened since then.
Mayor Pownell said there are many reasons for the slow progress, but she feels it is time for Northfield to step up and do its part.
“Because there are different governmental jurisdictions that oversee where the trail would run through. Different cities, townships, counties, and so it’s not necessarily an easy thing right to get one of these trails built.”
Bennet told the City Council last week that there are plans for a pair of major road construction projects along Jefferson Parkway in the coming years, so it is important that the funding come through relatively soon.
City Administrator Ben Martig said that getting the funding into a bonding bill is the city’s top legislative priority.
“This will probably be the top thing we’ll be focusing on legislatively, or at least trying to lobby for. The League of Minnesota Cities has recently posted their legislative day, and the mayor and I typically attend that. I’m also working with staff. We’ll be working on getting the bill developed and submitted. And then we’ll be talking about trying to get hearings set up and other things for the project.”
The legislature, meanwhile, will be focused on passing a new budget for the next biennium during this session. However, with a projected $17.6 billion state budget surplus, and no bonding bill passed last year, it is possible another bill could be considered in 2023.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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