Starting in July, school districts will no longer get a piece of the tax pie from wind farms in their areas, and that doesn't sit right with folks in those windy districts.

Rande Gronseth of Sargeant testified at a House committee Wednesday that the money should benefit local schools, said the Rochester Post Bulletin.

MinnPost covered this issue last spring, and it hasn't been resolved.

Instead of paying property taxes, wind farms are taxed based on how much energy they produce. This wind energy production tax is then divvied up among local governments, with 80 percent going to the county, 14 to the township and 6 percent to the school district where the wind turbine is located. Last year, this tax generated $2.4 million statewide with more than $146,000 going to school districts.

But in 2007, the Minnesota Department of Education and lawmakers approved eliminating the wind tax benefit for schools. Any wind tax revenue districts received would be deducted from their state education funding. That change would take effect July 1. Department staff had told lawmakers at the time that the wind tax contributed to funding inequity among schools.

Rep. Robin Brown, DFL-Austin, is sponsoring a bill aimed at restoring this additional wind funding. Fellow Austin Democrat, Sen. Dan Sparks, is sponsoring a similar measure in the Senate. Both bills have bipartisan support.

Grand Meadow Public Schools was among the districts banking on this money. Superintendent Joe Brown -- Rep. Brown's husband -- testified that his district had been expected to receive more than $29,000 from the wind tax.

Relying on this added money, the district had established a goal of having all students complete four years of math and science, starting with the class of 2010. But without this money, the district will have to lay off a full-time teaching position. The district has already cut 11 positions to balance its budget.