Minto, N.D., voters defeated an initiated measure Tuesday that would have limited the amount the city pays for rent and utilities for city offices.
The measure was voted down 106-22, according to City Auditor Tami Ulland.
Specifically, the measure would have limited the city to pay no more than $400 per month.
Minto's City Council recently approved a lease payment of $750 a month for rent, heat and water, effective when the city moves its offices to the $1 million community center, which is under construction and should be completed by early summer.
The current Minto City Office is located in the former Minto Electric office, 142 Harvey Ave.
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Supporters of the initiated measure said the city's new $750 a month rent and utility cost was too much money.
But city officials said the $400 a month limit proposed in the initiated measure does not cover the city's rent and utilities now. Monthly rent and utilities, including telephone, normally total $470, according to Ulland.
When it is completed, the 100-by-120-foot Minto Community Center will house a variety of local organizations. The center is being funded in part by the late Paul Koehmstedt, who was Minto's mayor from 2001 until he died at 80 in 2005.
