Tri-City United School District's dedicated bond website: https://sites.google.com/tcu2905.us/ref26/home .
The election in November 2025 came in with a failing vote for the Tri-City United School District’s $39.99 million dollar bond. Debate and reflection, along with some after-election survey results, left most of the school board still agreeing that the bond was necessary for both growth of the district and maintenance of the facilities that it has. After the Minnesota Department of Education approved the bond proposal earlier this year, the school board is choosing to try again with a special election on Tuesday, May 12 for the same amount, with the same items and a few additions.
“We respect the outcome of the last vote. When something like that doesn’t pass, it’s important for us to listen and reflect on the feedback we heard from the community. Some people had questions about the scope of the projects, others wanted more clarity on the tax impact, and for some it simply wasn’t the right time,” said TCU Superintendent Kevin Babcock. “Since then, we’ve spent time reviewing the plan, listening to concerns, and working to better explain the needs and the purpose of the levy. Ultimately, bringing it back gives the community another opportunity to review the information and decide if it’s the right step forward for our district.”
Essentially, the superintendent feels that if they make the information more clear, more accessible — particularly around tax impact — that the community will be able to make a more informed decision on whether or not its right for the community. He says both him and the board will be speaking at public places more about the bond and answering questions from people.
The district is holding four open houses on the bond again, one at each school (see below), and the superintendent will also be able to answer questions from the community at Hilltop Hall on April 2 at noon during the Montgomery State of the Community.
Beyond the events above, the district still has a website dedicated to the bond, which also has a tax impact calculator for people to find out the approximate amount they will have to pay in taxes for this 20-year bond. For the average person with a $300,000 home, they will see an increase monthly in their taxes of about $5.69 per month from what they are paying now for the school district’s portion of taxes, and then that tax amount would stay the same for the remainder of the 20 years.
The bond website, which has more detailed information, can be found at http://bit.ly/tcu-ref26. It also includes information for how to vote ahead of time as well as a link to find your polling location for where to vote in person for the May 12 special election.
What’s new?
Babcock said that one of the new things the bond includes are...