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House Tax Committee advances bill to establish annual aid for fire and ambulance special districts
Summary
The House Tax Committee approved an author's amendment and laid over House File 526, which would create an annual state aid program for fire and ambulance special districts, after testimony from Cloquet Area Fire District and the Fond du Lac Band.
Representative Jeff Dotseth, author of House File 526, won committee approval for an author's amendment and secured a procedural layover after testimony that said special districts face funding gaps that threaten long-term sustainability.
Dotseth told members of the House Tax Committee that House File 526 would "establish annual fire and ambulance special district aid." He said the bill responds to challenges in Greater Minnesota where combining services into special districts has reduced duplication but created new capital and operating funding needs.
The Cloquet Area Fire District and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa provided testimony supporting the bill. Jesse Bews, fire chief of the Cloquet Area Fire District, said the district has reduced needed apparatus by consolidating services and that the entire area served now has an ISO rating of 3, down from ratings that in some places ranged "all the way up to a 9." Bews…
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