Minnesota Schools Receiving Aid Catch-Up Payments

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota schools are receiving catch-up payments from the state, which had been partially delaying allowances to ease prior budget shortfalls.

A memo from the Minnesota Management and Budget agency says schools are back on their regular payment schedules as of Tuesday. For several years, a portion of checks to public schools had been delayed as part of an accounting maneuver to help the state balance its books, as the constitution requires.

The payback results from a surplus at the end of the fiscal year that ended on June 30. A law passed last spring required the state to make settling up with schools a priority.

The state still has $225 million in IOUs to schools based on how property tax payments are accounted for.