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House file 179 seeks sales-tax relief for Browerville school gym reconstruction
Summary
Representative Weiner and Browerville School Superintendent described collapse of the district gym and asked the Tax Committee to lay over House File 179 as amended to provide a construction sales-tax exemption that would lower local costs.
Representative Dean Weiner on behalf of Browerville School District asked the House Tax Committee to lay over House File 179, a proposal to exempt construction materials from state sales tax for rebuilding a damaged school gym in Browerville.
The bill’s author, Representative Dean Weiner, said the measure is a technical two‑year bill as amended and asked the committee to consider it for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill. Superintendent Scott Verbraten told the committee the school’s gym roof collapsed on April 1, 2023, and the district is now building a new $21,000,000 gymnasium.
"We are currently building a $21,000,000 gymnasium," Superintendent Scott Verbraten said, adding that the district’s insurer paid $5,000,000 after months of negotiation and voters approved a $16,000,000 bond to complete the project. Verbraten said construction remains on track for a September 1 move‑in date and that roughly half the construction cost would be subject to sales tax under current law.
Committee members had no further questions. Representative Weiner renewed his motion that House File 179, as amended, be laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill; the chair accepted the motion and the bill was laid over.
The measure’s supporters said the sales‑tax exemption would reduce costs to Browerville taxpayers by roughly the amount of tax on about $7,500,000 in taxable construction material, which Verbraten estimated would equal "just over half a million dollars" in sales‑tax relief for the district.
