REGIONAL- A bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature could bring long-term relief to rural fire and emergency services by sending state aid to special taxing districts created to support them.
The bipartisan proposal, HF526 in the House and SF1028 in the Senate, would provide annual state funding aid to fire and EMS taxing districts – regional cooperatives formed under a 2021 law that allows neighboring cities and townships to pool their resources and levy taxes specifically for fire and ambulance services.
“This aid will lessen what can seem like an insurmountable economic barrier in establishing a new special district,” Cloquet Area Fire District Chief Jesse Buhs told a House committee on Tuesday. “We need to create long-term sustainability for fire and EMS in our state.”
In Cloquet’s case, consolidating into a special district allowed the department to eliminate five firefighting rigs, one station and several overlapping training and administrative systems – all while improving efficiency and the district’s insurance ratings.
Cloquet fire and ambulance and Floodwood fire and ambulance are special taxing districts in St. Louis County that would immediately benefit from the aid program, but Buhs and others believe that providing additional state aid could spur the development of other partnerships.
“When you eliminate municipal boundaries, they’re no longer a factor in the provision of emergency services,” Buhs said. “You can take a regional approach.”
Sen. Grant Hauschild, DFL-Hermantown and Rep. Roger Skraba, R-Ely, are co-authors of the bills in their respective chambers.
Qualifying districts would receive annual aid equal to half of their average property tax levy from the past five years. For newer districts – those under six years old – the state would use the average of all prior-year levies.
In total, the bill would appropriate $3.1 million a year. If total requests exceed the cap, each district’s amount would be proportionally reduced. The Department of Revenue would certify the aid by Aug. 1 each year, with payments made the following July.
Rep. John Huot, DFL-Rosemount, acknowledged the financial constraints facing lawmakers this session but urged his colleagues to prioritize emergency services during Tuesday’s hearing.
“This is a really big, challenging thing,” Huot said. “Unfortunately, we’re in a bad year. But we, as legislators, really have to look at funding these sources. We have these failing all over the state. And we have to figure this out.”
Both the Senate and House have laid the bill over for possible inclusion in a larger tax package.