You're right!  This statement is false. In Fiscal Year 2001, the Legislature changed Minnesota tax law to take the majority of the public education cost burden off of local property taxes, but proposed legislation to create a new revenue stream never passed. Effective for taxes payable in 2002 (the school fiscal year 2003), the State of Minnesota increased spending by approximately $1 billion per year, but this was accompanied by a loss of all general education property tax revenue.  The $1 billion did not represent new money for Minnesota's schools, just a change in which kind of tax pays for schools. Information taken from www.parentsunited.org, "Setting the Record Straight About Minnesota School Finances"