The organizers of the petition seeking a referendum on the funding for Northfield’s 2023 city street projects have been informed that the petition as written does 
not meet the Minnesota state law requirements for a ballot petition.
The petitioners are members of the Valley Pond Townhomes Association who have objected to the construction of both protected, two-lane bikeways and off-street bikeways, that are components of the project. Specifically, a ten-foot wide, off-street bike lane is scheduled to be constructed in the Heritage Drive/South Lincoln Street area which will cut across the property of many of the petitioners. The organizers have presented the project as an example of what they see as wasteful spending and frivolous projects created by the city, and would like the city to instead develop, as organizer Todd Zehnder put it, “a new budget that aligns with the residents’ values and wishes.”
After being presented with a successful petition, the city has a choice to either put the funding for the 2023 street projects to a public referendum, or table the matter, without the ability to issue bonds, for 365 days. City Administrator Ben Martig has indicated in that case, the city does not currently have the resources to run a special election and would most likely cancel the street projects for 2023.
Zehnder and Gary Freking, another organizer, said their petition has collected 1,126 signatures. Their stated goal had been 600 signatures. The threshold to trigger the referendum is 5% of the total number of people who voted in the 2022 general election, which would come out to approximately 500 signatures.
A letter dated May 16th, one day after the petition was turned in to the City Clerk, addressed to Zehnder, Freking and Mr. Norm Watt said the petition is lacking a signer’s oath, a title on each page, and other details that create a legal notice for the signer and the receiver of the petition. The petition also does not include the year of birth, the printed middle name, and county of residence of the signer all of which must be provided by the signer according to state law.
Freking said the city was contacted on several occasions asking what was necessary for a successful petition. In each case, he said, the organizers were told the city could not advise the group on what to do. A member of the city staff said the organizers were directed to the Secretary of State website where all of the pertinent information regarding a petition could be found.
Speaking on Monday, before the petition was turned in, Zehnder had been very confident that the petition would be valid and hold up to legal scrutiny.
“Well, of course, the first thing they’ll do is closely scrutinize this petition. And rightfully so, we expect that. But given the fact that we’re not at 505, we’re at 1,126… You know, there are going to be some [signatures] in there that, for one reason or another, they will throw out. But we’ve kind of gone through and scrutinized [the petition]. We’ve thrown a lot out.”
City statute states that the petitioners have until the end of business today, May 18th, which is one month after the City Council voted to authorize the funding, to turn in a valid petition. As of yesterday morning, organizers said they were not sure how they would proceed.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Todd Zehnder and Gary Freking can be heard here
Education Omnibus Bill adds $2 billion in new spending
Yesterday, after an all-night session, the Minnesota State Senate passed the same K-12 Omnibus bill that had been passed by the House of Representatives a few 
hours earlier. With more than $2 billion in new spending and more than 42 new policy changes or additions, Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann called it a “sweeping” bill, while Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) called it “transformational.”
The bill adds 4% to the basic, per-pupil formula that determines how much money a school district will receive from the state in the 2023-2024 school year, and an additional 2% for the 2024-2025 school year.
While the increases to the formula will help quite a bit, adding in total about $1.6 million to the Northfield School districts total revenue, Hillmann said the bigger development is the decision to index the basic formula to the Consumer Price Index, allowing the formula to rise with inflation. Hillmann said there is a cap of 3% on the amount that can be added to a district’s revenue, and a floor of 2%. Hillmann said by taking this action, the legislature has made it easier to see into the future.
“The practical impact of that is that it will allow us to plan more than a couple of years out. And so, as with any change, I’m sure there will be some new learning that we have and [we’ll have to figure out] how you use that moving ahead. But the bottom line is that we are going to be able to do some longer-term planning, which is good because it’s just good business.”
Pursell, meanwhile, said she was “thrilled” to have voted for the bill because it provides for so many different facets of the state’s education system.
For example, she said, the bill allocates money to Adult Basic Education for the first time in many years. Pursell said it is a segment of the system that has long been underserved, and she is delighted to see money headed that way.
“Adult Basic education is sort of the ugly stepchild of K-12 funding, because we don’t really think of them as being in the K-12 system. But when people have had events in their lives like addiction or family emergency or incarceration that has disrupted their lives, people still need to be able to get their high school diploma or learn English or other skills.”
Another of Hillmanns longtime complaints about state funding has been the Special Education Cross Subsidy. The State of Minnesota has mandated, and “Rightfully so,” says Hillmann, that each school district set up its own Special Education plans, but the state has never funded that mandate. While the new legislation does not fully fund the Cross Subsidy, it does call for the state to pay 44% for all special education costs in the 2023-2024 school year and will eventually work its way up to 50%.
Hillmann said the funding will be staggered. Some of it will be received right away during the next school year, while other facets will be worked in more gradually.
All of this, of course, depends on the signature of Governor Tim Walz, who, being a former teacher in the Mankato area, has been a staunch supporter of education. He is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
