Education

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Many Minnesota school districts are counting on older residents to back their efforts to raise taxes, though officials acknowledge it's never been easy to win the financial backing of empty-nesters whose children have long been out of school.

The task may be getting even more difficult as the number of households led by people 65 and older is expected to climb almost 50 percent in the seven-county metro area over the next 15 years.

"It's a challenge," said Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. "There are suburban districts now where they have maybe only 15 percent of their households with children in the schools."

On Tuesday, about 100 Minnesota school districts -- the most in six years -- will ask voters for more money to stave off what they say will be crippling staff and program cuts. Last year, only about 40 percent of the school districts that asked voters for more money in the form of higher taxes got it -- the lowest percentage since 1980.

Districts such as Bloomington, White Bear Lake and Anoka-Hennepin all have growing numbers of elderly residents. At the same time, they are seeing the number of families with school-age children level off or decline.

That can make the plea for higher taxes a hard sell, said David Strom, president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. As parents age and children move out, the compulsion to raise taxes for schools wanes, Strom said. He calls it the "Florida Phenomenon."

Harvey Devries, a retired Hugo resident who recently returned to Minnesota from Arizona with his wife, Linda, is among the older voters supporting the tax increase. Devries said a brochure he received from White Bear schools detailed the closing of five of the district's nine elementary schools if voters don't approve the additional funding. "I said, 'We've got to go vote for this thing,"' Devries said.

But Yvonne Sparrow, who lives a block from the remodeled Hugo Elementary School and raised her three now-grown children in the White Bear Lake schools, said, "I just don't know what to say" about Tuesday's vote.

She thinks the district is "wasting money" on buildings at the same time she's facing a $10,000 special assessment for a new road in front of her home. It feels as if property tax increases will never stop, she said. "I guess it would be fine," Sparrow said. "If there wasn't so much waste."

Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent Roger Giroux has been meeting with many retired residents.

"They're concerned about taxes," he said, "but they are also concerned about the effects of cuts on the quality of the schools."

Milt Reynolds, retired after a 38-year career at Federal Cartridge, said he's voting for the levy increase. While rising taxes hurt, he said, today's kids need all the advantages they can get. "My grandkids are using the schools," he said.

Gary and Carol Peters also say they like the schools. But, as they sipped coffee in Hans' Bakery in Anoka last week, Gary Peters had a simple answer when asked if he supports the levy increase.

"No," he said. "We're on a fixed income. Just coming in here is a treat for us."

The cost of gas, utilities -- everything -- is rising faster than his Social Security payment and small carpenters' union pension.

"My kids are paying for their own kids," he said. "I can't afford to keep doing it."

In Bloomington, where more than 17 percent of residents are 65 or older and just 20 percent of the population is school-age, seniors' support for school funding is critical. Superintendent Les Fujitake said the city's schools have been fortunate to have the support of older residents, and he is expecting passage Tuesday for $5 million more a year from taxpayers.

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