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RAMS urges legislators to act on rural school funding, trust‑land questions
Summary
RAMS executive director Paul Peltier told the Grand Rapids Public School District board that RAMS will press lawmakers on rural priorities — from taconite tax revenue and school trust land to broadband and special-education funding — and asked the board to identify local items for the 2025 agenda.
Paul Peltier, executive director of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS), briefed the Grand Rapids Public School District board at a workshop on legislative priorities RAMS plans to pursue in the 2025 session. Peltier framed the organization as a long-standing advocate for Greater Minnesota and asked the board what local concerns RAMS should carry to the legislature.
“I'm the executive director of RAMS,” Peltier said. “We serve 27 cities, 27 townships, and 15 school districts, all in the Taconite Assistance Area.” He highlighted the region’s reliance on mineral revenues and said, “You get $1,510,000 every year from Taconite production tax revenue,” a recurring benefit for districts inside the TAA.
Why it matters: Peltier told the board that RAMS’s 2024 priorities include mining and taconite production tax issues, local government aid support, EMS and workforce training pilots, rural school aid and housing. He said the organization wants to ensure rural districts receive a fair share of statewide funding and be at the table as policy changes are debated.
Peltier raised a range of specific concerns the district and RAMS are tracking. He described an ongoing school‑trust‑land conversation involving roughly 80,000 acres in the Boundary Waters area and said he is one of seven appointees to a permanent school fund distributions task force. He noted the district received $225,000 from school‑trust distributions last year and asked the board to consider whether proceeds from any land swaps or sales should be made eligible for federal PILT‑type payments if ownership or disposition changes.
The board discussed funding inequities between metro and out‑state districts. “Outstate Minnesota kids do not have the same funding that metro area kids do,” one board member said, pressing the point that operating‑referendum outcomes and tax base differences make identical levies affect communities differently. Board members and Peltier offered examples and urged coordination among statewide associations to present unified legislative proposals.
Other items discussed included broadband last‑mile gaps (members cited areas where a single incumbent provider, Arvig, controls access), the uneven distribution of a 2023 housing appropriation Peltier cited ($1,300,000,000 allocated statewide), concerns about unfunded legislative mandates, and teacher‑recruitment strategies for rural districts.
Peltier also summarized the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tyler v. Hennepin decision and its local consequences, saying the ruling requires counties to return fair‑market value to homeowners on tax‑forfeited properties and that counties will need to rethink how they manage forfeited parcels. He asked whether compensatory aid for counties and cities that choose to maintain forfeited properties might be appropriate.
Peltier closed by offering to collect the district’s priorities and follow up with staff and legislators. The board did not take formal action during the workshop; Peltier left materials, including a service‑area map and RAMS’s legislative summary, and invited trustees to contact him.
What’s next: RAMS will solicit the district’s priorities for the 2025 session and continue conversations with the region’s legislative delegation.
