By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
In December, local governments approve their budgets and tax levies for the next year, which include cities, counties, and school districts. In November, we had several stories breaking down how the budget and tax levy work for the City of Northfield; now, we move to the Northfield Public Schools, where the funding system is quite different.
The Northfield School Board approves its budgets in May/June; however, they will hold their Truth in Taxation meeting and approve the tax levy on Monday. In this year’s budget, the overall tax levy is set at approximately $27.4 million, a decrease of about $200,000. The school district’s overall budget is $69 million.
Read More (June 2025): Northfield School Board Approves Budget For 2025-2026 School Year
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We’re starting this series by breaking down the district’s revenue streams. Unlike the city government, which receives most of its funds from the property tax levy, a far higher portion of the Northfield School District’s funds comes from the State of Minnesota and is based on the number of students enrolled. Schools Director of Finance, Val Mertesdorf, stated that state funding makes up approximately 70% of the district’s income:
“School finance in Minnesota is pretty complex, so the system blends. State, local and federal funding to support public education. State aid is our primary source of funding. It is a formula that distributes money based on student enrollment for school districts and considers other factors.” – Val Mertesdorf, Northfield Schools Director of Finance, KYMN News Special
Mertesdorf says that all of these funding sources break down into different accounts and are highly regulated:
“We have some state-mandated rules and they tell us how we have to spend the money, what we can spend the money on. Again, you cannot mix and mingle those funds. So if it’s for child nutrition for our lunch service, that’s a totally separate bucket of money that we cannot mix and mingle with some very extreme, limited circumstances.” – Val Mertesdorf, Northfield Schools Director of Finance, KYMN News Special
The property tax levy, unlike other city governments, is far more regulated, with new taxes either requiring voter approval in a referendum or approval by the state Department of Education. One common saying is “Bonds are for building, levies are for learning.” Examples of bonds include the High School Referendum and the new Greenvale Elementary referendum, which allowed the district to issue debt and raise taxes to cover the new costs. Examples of new levies include the 2022 referendum, which allowed the district to raise taxes to cover technology costs.
Mertesdorf walked through the example of the High School:
“So the key idea is that the money from the bond is voter-approved and we asked for $121 million for very specific purposes, and the voters said yes, overwhelmingly. And that is a completely restricted fund, and we can only use those funds as the voters approved it.” – Val Mertesdorf, Northfield Schools Director of Finance, KYMN News Special
Of the tax levy this year, $20 million has been approved by voters and $7 million by the state. The largest portion is going to the school’s general fund: $17 million, debt service accounts for $8 million, and the remaining $600,000 goes to Community Education.
Will be continuing this series on Friday, summarizing the historical trends of the School District’s tax levy and the impact of the high school on last year’s taxes
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