St. Charles officials had hoped for $800,000 in relief funds from the Legislature after a fire destroyed the southeastern Minnesota city's biggest employer, North Star Foods.

But the Legislature -- which recessed Monday with many items unfinished -- failed to give the needed approval for the money, said the Winona Daily News.

The Legislature did approve money for the St. Charles School District to cover budget shortfalls if enrollment declines because of the fire, and a sales-tax exemption for construction materials if North Star rebuilds.

But the tax and utility relief funds didn't make it. And faced with the anticipated loss in local government aid when the governor unallots billions to balance the budget, Mayor Bill Spitzer is steaming.

"I was disappointed, to say the least, in the outcome of (Monday) night," Spitzer said. Loss of the fire funding and cuts to LGA could be "crippling" to St. Charles, he said.

Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, who'd sponsored bills to help the city, said even getting the school money and sales tax exemption was significant because the April fire occurred after most deadlines to submit bills had passed. He said he worked hard to pass funding for St. Charles every day, but called the end result a political reality partly caused by his position as a minority party member in the House.

"If we had been in the majority in the House, I would have been able to bring it forward," he said.

The relief funds could be reintroduced next session, Drazkowski said. St. Charles may also qualify for grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, said House Finance Committee Chairman Lyndon Carlson, Sr., DFL-Crystal, who was once a teacher in St. Charles.