Sales taxes will be on the ballot in Edina, Bloomington, Golden Valley and Mounds View

Four suburban cities will look to voters Tuesday to approve local sales taxes that would help expand and renovate community centers, hockey arenas and other public buildings.

Voters in Bloomington, Edina, Golden Valley and Mounds View will all see sales tax measures on their ballots, which could take effect in 2024 if the questions pass. Bloomington has proposed a 0.5% tax, and Edina is looking to extend its existing 0.5% sales tax. Golden Valley wants a 1.25% tax, and Mounds View has proposed a 1.5% tax. The four are among a record 36 cities to get the Legislature's approval to pursue sales taxes. Several others, including Richfield, Woodbury, Stillwater, Cottage Grove and Roseville will vote on sales taxes in 2024.

Sales tax requests have become more common over the last decade, with more suburbs seeking local sales taxes that had once been the purview of core cities and outstate hubs. Nathan Jesson of the League of Minnesota Cities said suburban cities have started requesting more sales taxes as city leaders see sales taxes passing in peer cities. Sales taxes tend to be more popular among voters, Jesson said, because of the idea that other people will pay some portion, and because the tax comes a few pennies at a time — not in one big annual bill.

Bloomington will ask voters to approve a sales tax in three separate questions, one for each project the city wants to fund: a new public health and community center, renovations to the Bloomington Ice Garden, and restoration and maintenance on the Nine Mile Creek trail system. The requests total $155 million.

Bloomington City Manager Jamie Verbrugge said the City Council thought a sales tax would be the best way to ensure the costs of those facilities are shared by people from outside Bloomington.

"We are providing regional service through these projects," he said.

Skeptics in Bloomington wish there was another way to pay for the projects, like private fundraising or charging more for ice time.

"There are things that need to be done, nobody disputes that," said Kathy Kranz, a spokeswoman for advocacy group Residents for a Better Bloomington. "Parts of those projects can be taken care of, if we're creative."

Verbrugge said there was no realistic path for the city to raise $155 million other than a sales or property tax. To charge more for ice time, for example, he said, would make the Bloomington Ice Garden less competitive with other arenas, and even a major hike in fees would not come close to raising enough.

Edina is also looking to fund its hockey rink, the Braemar Arena. Voters there will be asked to approve an extension of the city's 0.5% sales tax to raise an additional $31.7 million for the arena, to add another sheet of ice and more parking.

Golden Valley's request for a 1.25% sales tax would raise $105 million to build a new police and fire headquarters and a new public works building. The city says more space is needed for women's lockers and restrooms as more women enter professions in public safety and public works. The Fire Department also wants space for its around-the-clock crews to sleep and have meals, and more room to store vehicles and cleaning equipment.

The highest local sales tax proposal is coming from Mounds View. The Ramsey County suburb is seeking a 1.5% sales tax to raise $16.5 million toward a major expansion of the community center. The city is exploring 24-hour access to the fitness center to compete with private gyms, a new walking track, and more courts for basketball and volleyball, with the hope of hosting more tournaments. The project's estimated total cost is $33 million.

If approved, the new taxes are expected to go into effect on or after April 1, after the state Department of Revenue formally notifies businesses, and works through other processes.