GREENWOOD TWP- There was no question that residents in Greenwood Township would vote to cut the 2015 levy when the adjourned annual meeting got underway on Tuesday. But an attempt by township officials to control the process with a less drastic reduction was not successful, and a motion from the floor eventually led the way to a levy approval for $150,000, a reduction of over $241,500 from the original request. The vote to approve the levy was 55-23.

The town board had presented a levy request of $391,535 at the March Annual Meeting, a significant reduction in spending from the current year, due mainly to the elimination of the assessor position, and a decision not to add additional levied funds to the township capital reserves. Township residents had voted to delay the vote until summer, when a larger percentage of township voters were present.

The decision to reconvene the meeting did lead to increased attendance. About 56 registered voters attended the March meeting, but the town hall was filled to capacity on Tuesday, with 83 registered voters attending. The township has approximately 800 registered voters.

Township Supervisor Tom Aro attempted to lead the discussion. He clearly had heard from township residents who wished to cut spending, and after delivering an overview of the township’s budget situation, he said the board was suggesting, in motion form, that the 2015 levy be set at $291,000, a $100,000 reduction from the previous levy request. This move led to much anger from the floor, from residents who felt Aro was high-jacking the annual meeting process, the one time township residents are given the authority to set township spending.

Lee Peterson objected immediately to the motion put on the floor by Aro.

“I am objecting,” he said to meeting moderator Howard Ankrum (who had been elected moderator at the March meeting). “This is the people’s meeting.”

Peterson put a motion of the floor, quickly seconded, to set the levy at $200,000.

But moderator Ankrum stated that Aro’s motion, while not yet seconded, was put forth first, and would be open for a second and discussion. He noted that Aro was also a resident.

Peterson asked if this adjusted levy amount had been discussed at a town board meeting. The answer was no.

Fred Smith noted that Aro was giving the budget overview as a representative of the board, and at the request of residents.

“But then he just blurted out a motion,” Smith said.

Others in the audience expressed concerns over the reasoning behind the reduction, wondering if it was financially sound.

“What do you see your funding at the end of the year, what are your goals, strategy, where is this going overall?” asked Mike Indihar.

Shirley Snyder asked where the budget was going to be cut.

Aro said the difference would simply be coming from township reserves.

“We would just be reducing our general fund balance,” he said.

The township has very healthy reserves, with over $1 million in the bank, including $482,000 of cash on hand, $408,000 in capital reserve funds, and $137,000 in restricted capital funds (earmarked for specific purposes).

Aro’s initial motion for a $291,000 levy failed on a 35-48 vote.

A motion from John Bassing to set the levy at $150,000 was then seconded and put up for discussion.

When asked for the reasoning behind the amount, Bassing replied “to get this board to listen to these people,” which elicited a large round of applause.

One audience member said she didn’t feel that this small number of people should be allowed to set the township levy here.

“This isn’t a democracy,” she said.

The annual town meeting dates back to the earliest forms of government in this country, and is widely considered to be part of the most basic form of democracy.

According to the Minnesota Association of Townships, “The annual meeting affords residents the opportunity to guide much of the activities that will occur within the township through votes to authorize certain actions, and ultimately by authorizing the tax levy to be set, which in turn controls the total amount of expenditures that can be made by the board of supervisors.”

Mary Worringer, a former town board member, asked Township Attorney Scott Neff to explain how the levy tax authority works. Worringer has been claiming that since the taxing authority is through St. Louis County, that township residents do not directly pay for this levy amount.

“We notify the county and they send us our levy amount,” Worringer said. “Greenwood is not sending tax bills to residents in addition to their property tax payments.”

Neff said that while yes, St. Louis County does collect the tax, the property tax bills residents receive are directly based on the amount levied by Greenwood. Others in the audience noted that everyone’s tax bill has a line item for the township tax component, which is clearly labeled. The tax levy set at this meeting will show up on property owners’ 2015 tax bill.

After the meeting was adjourned, the town board began its regular monthly meeting. The Timberjay will report on that meeting in next week’s paper.