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Larimore Public School District Superintendent Steve Swiontek says district needs Grand Sky taxes – Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS — The superintendent of the Larimore Public School District says his school district should continue to receive tax revenue from the GrandSky Aviation Park, but stopped short of saying the district would go to court to keep it.
Steve Swiontek told the Herald last week that his school district was entitled to the taxes it received over the past nine years from the GrandSky aviation park and would face financial challenges if the funds went to the Grand Forks Air Force Base school district.
“We certainly don’t want to lose those funds, that’s No. 1,” Swiontek said Thursday.
Attorneys for Larimore, the air base school district and Grand Forks County are still working to submit a request for a legal opinion to North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley’s office, asking the attorney general to decide which district school must receive tax revenue, according to Grand Forks County. State Attorney Haley Wamstad.
Swiontek’s remarks came in response to the May 15 Herald report that broke the news of
plans to submit a request for a legal opinion.
Neither the superintendent nor David Phillips, the attorney representing the Larimore Public School District, could be reached for the original report.
Larimore Public Schools has collected property taxes from the aviation park, which is home to tenants such as General Atomics Aeronautical and Northrop Grumman, since 2015.
Larimore’s tax revenue claim is that the airfield is located on land that was owned by the school district’s taxing authority prior to the establishment of the air base in the 1950s.
Larimore schools collected $122,854 in property tax revenue in 2023, out of a local levy of just over $2 million.
Swiontek says the loss of these funds will constitute a significant financial blow to the district, which already has deficit spending worth more than $400,000 in its $6.5 million 2023-24 budget.
“When you consider the Larimore School District budget is around $6 million, you take $120,000 out of a total of $6 million, it’s going to hurt,” he said.
The air base school district, which is operated by Grand Forks Public Schools under a joint powers agreement, maintains that the air park is within school district boundaries as established in 1989 when state law was changed to allow the establishment of school districts on military bases. .
The air base school district currently collects no property taxes and is primarily funded by federal Impact Aid dollars.
Brandon Baumbach, business manager for the Grand Forks Public Schools and Air Base School District, told the Herald earlier this month that the district would likely use the funds as a local match for a Department of Defense grant the district is seeking. to rebuild Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School.
Twining is the only school under the umbrella of the air base district.
Swiontek also questioned whether the air base district was authorized to collect property taxes, although that question is not directly addressed in the request for a legal opinion the Herald saw earlier this month.
Swiontek said he did not speak to Phillips, the attorney for the Larimore schools, before calling the Herald. Phillips and Howard Swanson, who represents the air base school district, were unavailable Monday.
An opinion from the attorney general on the tax issue will serve as the legal ruling unless challenged by one of the school districts.
Larimore’s superintendent stopped short of saying the district would challenge an unfavorable decision by the attorney general in court, saying that decision would have to be made by the local School Board.
“If it is a decision other than our rate… the board will discuss that before making any decision about whether to proceed with it,” he said.
Joshua Irvine covers K-12 and higher education as well as the Grand Forks County Commission for the Grand Forks Herald. He joined the Herald in October 2023.