When the state legislature erased a deficit of nearly $2 billion without raising taxes or cutting a significant amount of spending, it seemed too good to be true. Well, as the saying goes, when something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Part of the plan that &uot;fixed&uot; the deficit actually just delayed payments to some of the people who had money coming from the state &045; like school districts.

In Albert Lea, that means the schools will have to borrow nearly $5 million to maintain their cash flow while they wait to get the payments the state has promised. The schools must borrow money in this manner every year, but last year, for instance, they only neeeded to borrow around $3 million.

This means the school will wind up spending more on interest payments. So, while the legislature has patted itself on the back for not cutting school funding, it has forced schools to borrow more and spend more, which has the exact same effect as a funding cut.

With interest rates low, it won’t be an astromical amount, but that’s not the point. The point is that the state’s evasive action on the budget this year has consequences. And the state’s school districts, who are already struggling to get by, don’t need another expense to worry about.