If voters approve child care tax in St. Paul, Mayor Melvin Carter says he won’t implement it

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter on Monday said even if voters approve a ballot question authorizing the city to levy property taxes to make child care more affordable, he won’t do it.

He said there is no way the plan can do what the ballot language promises — at least, not for the $20 million per year the city would levy when the plan is fully mature. Saying the true cost of providing free child care to thousands of low-income families is closer to $110 million per year, Carter said he would either have to shrink the number of eligible children or dramatically increase the program’s funding.

“We’re asking voters if they want to buy a brand new Corvette for 30 bucks,” Carter said during a news briefing in his office Monday afternoon. “Like, yes, I do. I want to buy a brand new Corvette for 30 bucks. I can’t buy a brand new Corvette for 30 bucks.”

Because the ballot question only “authorizes” a special property tax levy and doesn’t require or automatically certify one, Carter said he is under no obligation to enact or collect the new levy.

Council Member Rebecca Noecker, a champion of the proposal, said she was “taken aback” by Carter’s promise to ignore the will of voters if the measure is approved Nov. 5.

“I find it very concerning that an elected leader says he won’t honor the wishes of the electorate,” she said, adding that proponents didn’t contemplate such a move. Noecker said the City Council, which overrode Carter’s veto in August 2023 and placed the proposal on the 2024 ballot, will “have to consider our options” if the mayor follows through with his promise of inaction.

“I find it really interesting,” Noecker said of Carter’s objection to the ballot question’s language. “We worked with the City Attorney’s office to draft that language.”

While the words on the ballot do not specifically state that families will be evaluated for eligibility, Noecker said the 48-page plan detailed before the City Council last month lays out how much money would be spent and how many children would receive subsidies each year. Carter’s insistence that voters would assume that all children would be helped does not respect the electorate, she said.

“We’ve been very clear that this doesn’t cover every eligible child,” Noecker said.

Gordie Loewen, a communications advisor for the Yes For St. Paul Families campaign, said Carter’s objections come across as disingenuous.

“I think voters know that outside Social Security and Medicare, not every person qualifies for every public program,” he said.

In fact, ballot language last fall in which voters were asked to increase the sales tax in St. Paul to help pay for street repair and parks was not specific in which projects would be covered.

“I’m not sure why he doesn’t trust voters now to know that this is a limited approach,” Loewen said, noting that Carter has declined for a couple of years to participate in discussions of how the city could make child care more affordable.

On Nov. 5, the ballot question will ask voters whether St. Paul should raise property taxes by $2 million a year, compounding annually, until $20 million a year is levied in the 10th year. That money would be used as subsidies for families, augmenting existing state and federal aid and philanthropy, Noecker said.

But that’s not what the ballot specifically says. In a letter Carter addressed to the City Council on Monday, he said “a plain language reading” of the ballot question implies much more than that, such as:

1. “Provide subsidies to families and providers so that early care and education is no cost to low-income families;”

2. “Provide subsidies to families and providers so that early care and education is ... available on a sliding scale to other [non low-income] families;”

3. “Increase the number of child care slots;”

4. “Support the child care workforce;” and

5. Implies these objectives are accomplishable over a 10-year period through its escalating property tax levy topping out at $20 million per year.

The plan would collect $110 million over its first 10 years, helping make child care more affordable for an average of 404 children per year, Carter said. That’s a far cry below the 5,000 St. Paul children younger than 5 who live in poverty, according to plan advocates. To truly do what the ballot language promises for as many families who need the help, Carter said, an analysis by the city’s Office of Financial Services concluded that fulfilling promises 1-4 would require more than $100 million a year.

“That is not what I think most voters are likely to assume when they agreed to provide subsidies for the families and providers so that early care and education is no cost to low-income families,” the mayor said.

That’s not to say providing affordable child care to more families isn’t wanted or needed, Carter said. His background, including helping to create the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood and working as director of the Minnesota Office of Early Learning, gives him a better understanding of the challenges involved in addressing the issue, he said.

“No matter what, we won’t deliver all the promises that are carried in this ballot question,” Carter said.