Payback time arrives for some Minn. schools

Overdue state aid payments to Minnesota schools will begin arriving in district accounts by week's end.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration is catching up on $423 million in payments it delayed earlier this year to deal with a state cash crunch. Minnesota Management and Budget spokesman Curt Yoakum said the agency was processing the payments on Wednesday.

To avoid short-term borrowing, the administration announced in January it would hold back portions of school aid allowances for March and April. The move affected 231 districts.

That aid delay was separate from another $2 billion accounting shift involving school payments that Pawlenty and lawmakers agreed to recently as part of a budget balancing plan.

Yoakum said the University of Minnesota, which saw a $52 million appropriation withheld, will have to wait until June to get the money back instead of the targeted May payback.

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