Posted: 5/15/07
Tax committee turns down Tschumperís proposal on
forcing CJC referendum
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
The controversial Houston County Criminal Justice Center (CJC) was at the forefront of discussions, not only in this county, but also in St. Paul last week.
Rep. Ken Tschumper (DFL-La Crescent) attempted to introduce legislation that would make it much more difficult for the Houston County Board to move ahead with the proposed CJC without first holding a county-wide referendum.
Tschumper, who has publicly encouraged the county board to call for a referendum, enlisted the help of Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington) who is chairman of the House Tax Committee. Tschumper authored a bill modifying county bonding authority by expanding the maximum permitted amount of debt under the county capital improvement plan (CIP) bonding law and eliminating the authority of counties to use leased revenue bonds for facilities that qualify for CIP bonding.
"Presently, there are four ways a county can bond for a project like the CJC," Tschumper explained. "Two are through lease bonds, which do not require the governing board call for a public referendum. Lease bonds carry a higher percentage rate than the other two types of bonding programs. One of these requires a referendum, and the other allows residents to present a petition to the governing board to request a referendum, which must be honored.
"When I was running for office, I had many residents of Houston County tell me they felt the CJC issue should be brought to a county-wide vote," Tschumper continued. "Everyone agrees the county needs a new jail, but size, cost, and location are issues many people in Houston County want to be able to voice their opinions on.
"I wanted to draft a bill just for Houston County, but Rep. Lenczewski told me it couldnít be written for one county, but needed to be state-wide. She agreed with me a loophole in the bonding laws exist, the Houston County Board was exploiting this loophole, and tried to help me."
Lenczewski helped author legislation to help Tschumperís cause, which was heard last week by the House Taxes, and Ways and Means committees. The Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) and Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA) lobbied heavily against the proposed legislation. The proposed legislation did not receive support at the committee level, and was unanimously voted down, according to an AMC email sent out to Houston County officials last Wednesday.
The Houston County Board was notified of the proposed legislation at the conclusion of the May 8 commissionersí meeting.
When asked about it, Commissioner Larry Graf said "the state has forced us to take in so many more inmates, our jail is 132 years old, and now theyíre trying to tie our hands with this legislation. The state has said we have the right to bond on any safety issue, and the CJC project fits into current laws.
"Calling for a referendum would be very expensive," Graf continued. "And I wonder how many people realize if a referendum is called, and it passes, approximately 40 percent of the tax capacity of Houston County would be exempt. It would be just like a school bond referendum where ag and recreational land is exempt. For my district (which is the city of La Crescent) my constituents would bear the major brunt of this, while persons living in the country wouldnít. Theyíd only be taxed on their house, garage, and one acre of land.
"I donít think Ken (Rep. Tschumper) had all the facts before he tried to enact this legislation," Graf went on. "Weíve been working on this for 11 years, and we still run into surprises."
"I feel local control of something like this is a better way to go," Commissioner Ann Thompson said. "And after committee members listen to what representatives from AMC and MICA had to say, they must have agreed, because they didnít support the proposed legislation."
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