We were pleased to hear that the Shell Rock River Watershed District’s half-percent local option sales tax was approved by the Minnesota Legislature and finally signed into law this week by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The tax was initially instituted by more than 80 percent of voters in a referendum vote in November 2005 and received overwhelming support last November when 72 percent of voters chose to extend the tax.

With Dayton’s signature, the sales tax will be extended for either 15 years or until $15 million has been collected. The money collected goes to support water quality improvements — most notably in the forseeable future, the dredging of Fountain Lake.

The dredging project has been a long time coming, and we hope that now that the sales tax renewal has been secured, there won’t be any other major speed bumps along the way to getting the project started.

We encourage Watershed District officials to make an extra effort to keep the public informed of every step along the way, and in return, we encourage the public to take time to educate themselves, as well. 

The community, the Legislature and now the governor have shown support for the sales tax. Let’s keep the ball rolling.