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Cannon Falls board backs November referendum, recommends $9.50 operating levy
Summary
After a discussion of past levy results and comparative local government budget growth, the board instructed staff to bring an election resolution and recommended placing a $9.50 (with inflationary adjustment) operating levy on the Nov. 4, 2025 ballot; the board emphasized transparency about cuts if the referendum fails.
The Cannon Falls School Board voted to direct staff to bring back election resolutions and begin public messaging to pursue an operating levy referendum on Nov. 4, 2025, recommending a $9.50 increase (with an inflationary adjustment) as the district’s minimum ask.
Board members and finance-committee members reviewed historical budget growth across county and city governments to put the district’s needs in context. Board member Pete (surname not specified) and others compared the school budget’s increase since 2003 with growth in Goodhue County and the City of Cannon Falls and argued the district has not kept pace with other local government increases.
Finance committee members and staff discussed prior referendum experience: the district previously asked for $7.50 per $1,000 of taxable market value and that measure failed. Committee members said the current financial picture — including roughly $800,000 in cuts already taken — supports asking for a larger, $9.50 rate. The board discussed message strategy, the need to show specific cuts that would be taken if voters reject the request, and the challenge of reaching likely November voters.
Staff provided an illustrative tax-impact table for a median home value used in the prior referendum ($350,000) showing the $9.50 rate would add about $306 a year on that example home. The motion the board approved instructs staff to proceed with a $9.50-with-inflation referendum resolution; the board authorized staff to confirm final property-value and tax‑impact numbers with the county prior to the public campaign.
Board members said they will present specific program and staffing cuts to the public if the referendum does not pass, and the finance committee recommended finalizing those cuts in September so voters can see the consequences before the election.
