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June 8, 1999
Potter wants decision on sales taxSchool board memberexpected to call for actionat Thursday's meetingBy ERIC SERRANO Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- District 88 should decide now whether or not it wants to join forces with the city in a quest for a half-cent sales tax, says a board member. Donald Potter, who voiced his opposition to possible talks between New Ulm city officials and the district during the board's May 27 meeting, said the board should "... have an understanding about what we're going to do. "(The board) should get a decision and let the public know what they want to do ... pursue the idea or drop it," Potter said Monday. At the board's May 27 meeting, Chair Mark Wiger raised the issue of discussions with New Ulm officials and the possible use of some dollars raised in a yet-to-be-approved half-cent sales tax for jointly owned and used facilities. Wiger said then discussions could shed light on whether shared facilities would be, " ... an efficient use of tax dollars," particularly in light of the district's aging junior high school facility. All of the districts other school buildings were recent beneficiaries of a $10-million construction and renovation project, Wiger said. The junior high school was deemed, "... not a wise long-term investment" in a 1996 task force report on the state of district facilities, Wiger said. The district should begin to gather input from community members for an updated report and assess the pros and cons of working with the city on facilities issues, he added. "Maybe I'm just too conservative," Potter said Monday, echoing his thoughts from the May 27 meeting. "We need to watch our budget. We need to look ahead to our declining enrollments. I don't know that we need a new junior high school. I think what we have should be adequate for what we want to do," he said. One of Potter's biggest concerns in getting involved with the city's push for the sales tax, is the potential for voter backlash when the district asks for its own funds in the form of an excess operating levy. "If we can't get people to support (the excess operating levy), then we would be in some real trouble," he said. Voters gave the district permission to levy an average of $146 per pupil beyond what the state allows by law, when it narrowly passed the levy referendum in November 1997. The levy is authorized for five years, or until 2002. The 1997 levy and an $89 per-pupil levy authorized in 1989 generated $399,106 in 1999 payable tax revenue for the district, and represents 2.25 percent of the district's general fund, according to District Business Manager Donna Luhring. The school board was divided on the possibility of talks with the city at the May 27 meeting, and it failed to reach a consensus on the issue.
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