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The mayor of the biggest city spared in Gov. Pawlenty’s local-aid cuts calls it “a pardon.” St. Charles, a town of 3,600 where a food-processing plant employing 250 people burned to the ground in April, counts on state Local Government Aid for half its $1.4 million budget. State Rep. Steve Drazkowski unsuccessfully pushed for an emergency-aid bill during the legislative session but bent his fellow Republican’s ear while Pawlenty was preparing $300 million cuts to LGA.

More unallotment news from across Minnesota this morning…

ANNANDALE: Hopes were high for lower cuts. Republican state Rep. Dean Urdahl also lobbied Pawlenty, but the LGA cut he was hoping for — “less than $71,000″ for Annandale — will be more than twice that: $154,000 over two years. [Annandale Advocate; Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities]

KANDIYOHI COUNTY: Hoped-for corrections to unallotment cuts will come too late. It could have been worse — and it will be, when bigger 2010 cuts kick in, even if softened by the state Legislature, after the date (Sept. 15) by which counties must set their budgets and levies. [West Central Tribune]

ST. CLOUD: City, campus brace for next two years under T-Paw cuts. St. Cloud’s 2010 budget already looks “problematic,” and St. Cloud State University expects to be $2 million short in 2011.  [St. Cloud Times]

WASECA: School district to pay extra interest on Pawlenty’s deferrals. Waseca’s schools were prepared to shell out between $50,000 and $100,000 in interest under recently promised aid schedules, but that range will rise because Pawlenty is deferring more aid to next year. [Waseca County News]

STATEWIDE: Union expects Pawlenty’s cuts to cost 3,400 government jobs. Workers have given it more thought than the governor: Pawlenty told reporters he couldn’t even guess whether public-sector layoffs would be in the hundreds or thousands. [Workday Minnesota]

STATEWIDE: Parties don’t mourn death of political donor-refund program much. Republicans never liked the refunds, even though the $10.4 million benefited them more than it did Democrats, who say Pawlenty’s other cuts are worse. (No one’s asking Minnesota’s 90,000 donors.) [St. Paul Pioneer Press]