St. Cloud-area voters OK new sales tax for jail, tax increase for new fire station

ST. CLOUD – Stearns County voters on Tuesday soundly approved using sales tax to fund a new justice center, and St. Cloud residents voted in support of raising taxes to pay for a new fire station and in support of moving city elections to odd years.

Stearns County officials plan to build a new $325 million justice center complex that includes a 270-bed jail, a judicial center with courtrooms and a law enforcement center that houses the Sheriff’s Office. In the summer, Stearns County board members voted to move those facilities out of downtown.

The question on the ballot asked voters how to fund that center. About 62% of the 80,700 Stearns County residents who cast ballots said “yes” to allowing the county to increase its sales tax by three-eights of a cent for 30 years to fund the project. If voters had rejected the sales tax, the county planned to pay for the project with property taxes.

Officials estimate the sales tax would cost a Stearns County household about $85 a year, and the annual cost if paid for with property taxes would be about $185 per household.

St. Cloud resident Chuck Wildman, 67, voted in support of using sales tax to pay for the judicial center.

“I’d rather everyone that comes into the county have to pay instead of just the taxpayers,” he said.

With about 62% voting “yes,” St. Cloud voters also soundly approved raising property taxes to fund a new $43.5 million fire station on the city’s southwest side.

The new station would provide fire and emergency services to a fast-growing part of the city and improve response times across the entire city. It would also include a training center for first responders in St. Cloud and surrounding communities. The monthly tax impact for an average house in St. Cloud valued at $235,000 will be $9.

“Certainly public safety has always been a top priority for the city and for the voters,” Mayor Dave Kleis said Tuesday night. “The fire station is important, not only for safety and response time, but in the long term, it helps reduce insurance costs when you have a quicker response time.”

Lastly, about 55% of voters approved a ballot question to amend the city charter so that elections will be held in odd-numbered years. Kleis suggested the change to prevent the mayor and City Council seats from being overshadowed by state and national races.

He said that while it’s true more people vote overall in even-year elections, their votes are for the state and federal races and not always the local races. By having city elections in odd years, Kleis said, the voters who do go to the polls will likely be more informed on the candidates and issues.

With the change, the terms of the mayor and council members elected in 2026 and 2028 will be for three years to align with city elections in odd-numbered years.

Duluth and Minneapolis hold municipal elections in odd years, and St. Cloud held elections in odd years until about two decades ago, when voters approved moving to the current even-year system as a way to save the city money.

St. Cloud resident Zola Wolff, 28, said Tuesday she voted in favor of moving elections to odd years.

“Those [city elections] are the ones that matter,” she said. “Those are the ones where your vote is bigger.”