Going out for both operating referendums and capital support was almost exclusively a rural endeavor in Minnesota in this general election. Few school districts in Minnesota gained the support they needed with passage rates under 50 percent for operating referendums and under 40 percent for capital requests.
The operating referendum ballot questions far outweighed bond or capital levies on the ballot with 33 school districts seeking operating support and 13 requesting approval of capital projects.
Operating Referendums
Of the 35 school districts that went out for some form of operating referendum only one was from the 7-county metro area. Renewals of operating referendums overwhelmingly passed (13 to 1) while those school districts that asked for increases had a much tougher time of passing the ballot question (4 to 18).
Operating referendums had over all passage rate of just under 50 percent, including a tie in Wheaton. Wheaton Public School had the exact same number of votes for and against their operating referendum increase. See all the results at a glance at the end of this article.
Bond & Capital Levies
The number of bond and capital levy questions on the general election ballot dropped from 63 last year to just 13 on Tuesday. Twelve of those districts are in rural Minnesota.
Only one out of four (25%) bonding requests in the state passed to grant the requested $6.6 million in support for Mabel Canton Schools. While capital levies performed slightly better, only four capital levies in Minnesota received voter approval Tuesday for a passage rate of 44 percent.
Minnesota voters approved $21.4 million in bond and capital levy requests in this election with almost half of that supporting Fridley Schools. About $150 million in requests did not receive enough support.
- Bonding Requests: $6.6 million passed; $137.2 million failed.
- Capital Levies: $ 14.8 million passed; $12.4 million failed.
Red Rock Central received 52 percent of the votes for its building bond, but the bond did not pass due to an unfavorable review and comment. This created a situation where the school district needed 60 percent passing votes for their bond to pass, instead of the traditional majority. See all of the results at a glance below.
All Results At a Glance
Capital Results in Minnesota
School |
Amount Passed |
Amount Failed |
Type |
|
| Aitkin | $5,000,000. | Capital Levy | ||
| Badger | $523,456 | Capital Levy | ||
| Battle Lake | $2,622,920 | Capital Levy | ||
| Floodwood | $1,190,783 | Capital Levy | Only if Q1 passed | |
| Fridley | $10,160,000 | Capital Levy | ||
| Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted | $2,000,000 | Capital Levy | ||
| Lancaster | $1,500,000 | Capital Levy | ||
| Laporte | $3,000,000 | Capital Levy | ||
| Mabel-Canton | $6,605,000 | Bond | ||
| Milroy | $1,200,000 | Capital Levy | ||
| Park Rapids Area | $58,215,000 | Bond | ||
| Red Rock Central | $42,100,000 | Bond | Needed 60% passage due to unfavorable review | |
| West Central Area | $36,935,000 | Bond | ||
Total |
$21,411,376 |
$149,640,783 |
Operating Referendums in Minnesota
Operating Referendums |
|
|
|
School |
Passed |
Did Not Pass |
|
| Albert Lea | x | Increase | |
| Austin | x | Increase | |
| Badger | x | Renew | |
| Bemidji | x | Increase | |
| Blue Earth Area | x | Renew | |
| Butterfield-Odin | x | Increase | |
| Cambridge-Isanti | x | Increase with inflation | |
| Cleveland | x | Increase | |
| Fillmore Central | x | Renew | |
| Floodwood | x | Increase with inflation | |
| Greenbush-Middle River | x | Increase | |
| Henning | x | Renew | |
| Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted | x | Increase | |
| Kenyon-Wanamingo | x | Increase | |
| Mabel Canton | x | Renew | |
| Marshall County Central | x | Increase | |
| Menahga | x | Increase | |
| Milroy | x | Question 1 did not pass; didn’t revoke 1160.09 | |
| Montevideo | x | x | Renew passed; increase did not |
| Monticello | x | Increase | |
| Morris Area | x | Renew and increase passed | |
| Nashwauk-Keewatin | x | Increase | |
| New London-Spicer | x | Increase | |
| New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva | x | Increase | |
| Owatonna | x | x | Renew passed; increase did not |
| Pine City | x | Renew | |
| Prinsburg | x | Amount necessary passed | |
| Red Lake | x | Increase | |
| Red Rock Central | x | Renew | |
| Shakopee | x | Increase | |
| St. James | x | Renew | |
| Ulen-Hitterdal | x | Increase | |
| United South Central | x | Renew | |
| Waconia | x | Increase | |
| Wheaton | Tied – Increase | ||
