Members of the North Central Lakes Collaborative, an affiliation of public and private citizens working to sustain healthy lakes in northern Minnesota, proved an amenable audience to information on the proposed Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment voters will be asked to address in November.
Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, addressed the proposed "donation from citizens that is not imposed by the Legislature."
In November, voters will decide whether to amend the constitution and raise the state sales tax three-eighths of one percent, generating, initially, about $290 million a year, for the next 25 years.
The language allocates funding for four purposes: 33 percent for water quality, 33 percent for wildlife habitat, 19.75 percent for arts and culture and 14.25 percent for parks and trails.
Estimated cost for the average Minnesota family is about 15 cents a day and less than a dollar a week. The average Minnesota household would contribute $56 a year in additional sales tax.
ADVERTISEMENT
The initiative began about 11 years ago, Johnson said, when former Sen. Bob Lessard (DFL-International Falls) sought dedicated funding for natural resource issues.
"Two years ago, it gained enough wheels," he said of the proposal.
Johnson acknowledged a battle ahead, however.
A recent Minnesota Public Radio/Humphrey Institute poll of 763 likely Minnesota voters showed an overwhelming majority opposes raising the sales tax through a constitutional amendment.
US Sen. Rod Grams chairs the No Constitutional Tax Increase campaign, citing the recent legislative gas tax increase and energy costs as deterrents.
Johnson disputes the poll findings. "The majority of Minnesotans are unaware of the proposal," he said. Once informed, he thinks the numbers will be reversed.
Johnson reminded his audience funding to address natural resource issues will be necessary, regardless of the voters' choice on the amendment.
All is not well in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Forty percent of Minnesota lakes and rivers tested are polluted or impaired.
ADVERTISEMENT
And Minnesota is expected to lose one million acres to development in the next 25 years.
"We need to protect areas for future generations," he said.
Initially, about half of lottery proceeds was to fund natural resources, Johnson said. But the Legislature trimmed the amount, now with a mere 7 percent of lottery earnings earmarked for the environment.
If the amendment receives voter approval, the money will be appropriated by the Legislature, Johnson said. The amendment holds "components" to bring money locally, including small, outstate conservation groups.
Voters, Johnson said, have expressed concern that this will decrease funding for existing programs - schools often cited. But the proposal creates a new funding source.
"The majority of Minnesotans have no idea they are going to be asked to vote on this," he told his NCLC audience. Information dissemination has to be "a grassroots effort."
"This is a chance for the Legislature to take a pulse on people's attitude toward the environment," Kent Montgomery of The Nature Conservancy remarked of the proposal.
For more information, to volunteer or to contribute head to www.YesforMn.org .
