Legacy funds and fat paychecks

The ongoing brouhaha over a $45,000 speaker's fee paid to author Neil Gaiman last year from Legacy Amendment funds demonstrates the need for peace-of-mind oversight measures to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are well-spent.

Fortunately, Minnesota's Office of the Legislative Auditor recently launched a much-needed evaluation into Legacy funds accountability issues. The probe will scrutinize the oversight practices in place and, if needed, recommend improvements.

In addition, the evaluation will determine whether there are "clear standards and effective processes in place" to guard against fiscal mismanagement. The Gaiman case raises one of the many unanswered questions: Is there any recourse when the people in charge of the funds make poor decisions?

This editorial board opposed the Legacy Amendment from the start and has long raised concerns about accountability. Voters approved the amendment in 2008. It designates tax monies to promote Minnesota's heritage in arts and culture, parks and trails, clean water and outdoors projects.

The amendment increased the state sales tax by just under one half of one percentage point for 25 years, beginning July 1, 2009. During fiscal year 2010, the first year funds were collected, an estimated $230 million was raised.

The Legislative Auditor's evaluation should show whether the Gaiman case was an isolated instance of poor judgment or the norm in how dollars are allocated. It's unfortunate, however, that GOP leaders have attacked Gaiman personally for the fee paid to him for speaking at the Stillwater library last May.

First, Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, used his position as a bully pulpit for juvenile name-calling directed at the best-selling author, screenwriter and film director. Second, GOP Rep. Dean Urdahl urged lawmakers to deduct $45,000 from the library system's budget -- a kind of legislative retribution that borders on the ridiculous.

When the controversy first surfaced last year, Gaiman wrote on his blog that when told what he would be paid for the Stillwater event, he said: "That's an awful lot of money for a little library." He said he was told the money was coming from the Legacy Fund and needed to be used.

"Well, that seemed fairly simple," he blogged. "They'd already booked a number of other authors. They had the money sitting there and were happy to pay me my rack rate. Either they gave the money to me or it went away -- it couldn't be used for anything else."

Giving Minnesotans access to quality writers and authors is a worthy cause, though speaking fees should be negotiated to a reasonable amount. At a time when the quality of education in the state is being called into question, programs that encourage library use, reading, writing and literacy deserve support -- within reason.

Gaiman is a successful writer and has the right to charge whatever he wants in speaker's fees. He's not the poster child for Legacy funds mismanagement. But Minnesotans also have the right to demand better judgment in how their tax dollars are used.