District 197 Levy Referendum Passes

The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School District levy referendum passed Tuesday night by a vote of 4,526 to 2,750.

The approval will allow the district to renew a $1.7 million operating levy set to expire next year and increase that levy by $1. 8 million.

The resulting $3.5 million a year in additional property tax revenue will provide about $731 a student.

The tax impact is estimated to be an additional $35 a year for every $100,000 in home value, according to the district.

"Every single blade of grass that went into this grassroots effort paid off tonight," said volunteer Holly Farber at a celebration Tuesday night at the .

A parent group lobbied for the renewal and the increase to be passed in one question, a moved criticized by some voters.

Without passage of the ballot question, the board would have had to cut $3.2 million to balance next year's budget.

“I’m so happy,” said school board chair Robin Rainford. “This will give us the tools to grow our district.”

Every precinct in the district voted in favor of passage.

“It shows how much Eagan families value and appreciate education,” said Pilot Knob Principal Tom Benson.

“I’m pretty excited,” said Principal Joni Hagebock. “This is just an amazing experience. Just to know that the community came out to support our schools, our students, is really motivating and inspiring.”

A request to renew and increase the levy last year failed by 1,203 votes in the even-year election.

Many levy supporters this year were motivated by the resulting, when drastic changes in the district were considered in an attempt to maintain education quality while reducing costs. Those proposals were not well received by parents, who said at the time that not enough consideration or planning had gone into the proposals.

Many consider the levy to be a way to keep the district’s finances stable long enough to consider and execute some of those ideas on a longer timeline through the .

 “We’re going to let this sink in and get moving forward,” said Benson.