Brooklyn Center voters will decide fate of $37M community center expansion plans

Brooklyn Center officials have spent the past three years coming up with plans to renovate and expand the city's community center — and how to pay for it.

Now residents will decide if the $37.5 million project will proceed.

The City Council last week voted to place a question on the November ballot asking residents to give Brooklyn Center permission to impose a new 0.5% sales tax to generate the money.

If successful, the tax would remain in effect for 20 years, or until $44 million of authorized expenses is collected, according to the ballot language the City Council approved. But if voters say no, plans to add two gymnasiums, an indoor walking and jogging track, a teen center and play space for children may have to be amended. The project also calls for remodeling locker rooms, restrooms and lobby, and a new parking lot.

"The city can't afford to do it on its own," said City Manager Reggie Edwards.

Brooklyn Center was awarded $5.1 million for the expansion and renovation in last year's state bonding bill, the first time the north metro suburb has received state money for a capital project since the former Brookdale Shopping Center was built in the early 1960s, Edwards said.

But to get the money, the city must match the amount, Edwards said.

The sales tax would bring in between $2.5 million and $2.9 million a year, with about 40% of that coming from non residents, city estimates show. Using a tax study from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, a Brooklyn Center household at the median income of $70,600 would pay an additional $46 per year in sales taxes, said Jason Aarsvold with Ehlers Public Finance Advisors.

That would be far less than the $212 per year in additional property taxes on the median value home of $264,000 if the city went that route, Aarsvold said.

Raising the local sales tax beyond the state imposed level has been a popular way for cities to raise money for specific projects, said Nathan Jesson with the League of Minnesota Cities. Voters have approved them in most cases, he said, because non residents contribute toward costs, and those who live in the cities pay a little at a time, unlike property taxes when large bills come due twice a year.

Seven communities in the seven-county metro area currently have a city-levied sales tax of 0.5%, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Edina, West St. Paul and Oakdale. Rogers levies a 0.25% sales tax, according to a document from the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Edwards said city staff conducted "some of the most robust community engagement of recent time" in identifying the top priorities. That included dialog at more 600 pop-up events, email media blasts, social media interactions, focus groups and neighborhood visits.

Basketball and volleyball courts, an indoor track, space for tutoring and better locker rooms emerged as the public's top four wants, said Cordell Wiseman, the city's Parks and Recreation director.

"This project was born out of the community. Over the past decade plus, it's something the community has asked for," Edwards said. "A community center is not just about a building, it's about the livelihoods of people."

The project would double the size of the current community center at 6301 Shingle Creek Parkway to about 96,000 square feet. The expanded building would cost more to operate, but revenue from tournaments and events held in the building would result in a positive cash flow of $100,000, Edwards said.

Council Member Dan Jerzak expressed concerns, and cast the lone vote against putting the question on the ballot. Without going into the merits and challenges of the project, "I don't believe we have the bandwidth financially to afford this," he said.

The rest of the council supported the ballot question and giving residents the chance to participate in city government.

"I think it is a perfect opportunity to exercise democracy and let them have a voice in that process," said Mayor April Graves. "Let's give our residents an opportunity to vote for what they want or what they don't want."

If the measure passes, construction would begin in 2026.