The Ag2School credit significantly reduces the property tax burden for agricultural land and building property owners on bonds sold for school improvements. It does not change the tax impact for all other property classifications. The proposed bond for Ellsworth Public School qualifies for this credit. The credit pays for 70% of the tax burden related to school bonds for agricultural land and buildings. Property owners do not need to do anything to receive this credit as it is applied by the counties prior to sending the property tax statement for qualifying parcels.
The credit is funded by the state of Minnesota. This means that taxpayers across the state including the twin cities metro are contributing to reduce the tax burden for the proposed school improvements in Ellsworth.
For Ellsworth Public School, this credit will pay for about 62% of the total bond principal and interest. This means that of the total $5,000,000 bond, about $1,900,000 of the expected principal and related interest will be paid by local taxpayers. $3,100,000 of the project will come from the state of Minnesota.