The Duluth School Board spent perhaps $75,000 on consultants and advertising to “inform” the public about the levy. I haven’t checked to see how much Vote Yes spent but it was considerable. More than Osseo who’s pro vote yes folks only spent $3,000. Of course Osseo’s levy failed.
Then again, unlike Osseo, no one organized a vote no group in Duluth. How the Duluth levy would have fared had there been serious opposition its hard to know.
“Spending on the Oseeo campaign, which Epley estimated at $3,000, is less than last year’s because Vote Yes volunteers are eschewing calls and costly mass mailings for old-fashioned, and cheaper, door-knocking.
But anti-levy activists are warning that pro-levy optimism might be unfounded.
“I would say that, based on what I’m hearing from constituents, they feel conditions are even worse than they were last year,” said Ron Stoffel, treasurer of 281 CARE, a group working to defeat the proposed Robbinsdale tax increase. “We have a large amount of fixed-income seniors. They’re saying they can’t afford any more tax increases.”
