St. Paul City Council, Mayor Carter renew annual budget dance — with a difference

St. Paul taxpayers packed the City Council chamber earlier this week for the city’s “Truth in Taxation” hearing, some asking for more help to address housing or climate change and many homeowners pleading for council members to rein in rising property taxes.

In interviews Tuesday, council members said they received the message. Council President Mitra Jalali and Council Member Rebecca Noecker said this year’s pleas felt different. More plaintive, perhaps?

“We are the voice of the constituents, the ward-level elected representatives,” Jalali said. “And this year feels tougher than most, because of the factor of inflation.”

Noecker, the council’s longest-tenured member, agreed: Something is different this year.

“The council is taking a stronger stance,” she said. “It’s a struggle every year ... but this might be a time when our tax base is more constrained than in the past.”

They say they are using ongoing budget negotiations to convince Mayor Melvin Carter to significantly reduce his requested levy increase. The mayor and council have said they will continue to meet right up until the council is expected to approve a 2025 budget on Dec. 11. Neither side said they expect an impasse.

On Monday, the City Council kicked off a two-hour “Truth In Taxation” hearing with a presentation by Jay Willms, the city’s chief budget officer, on Carter’s proposed $854.9 million operating budget for 2025. Of that, Carter is proposing a total tax levy of $224.9 million — a 7.9% increase over 2024.

The levy is the total amount of money raised via property taxes across the city. Changes to individual property tax bills will vary.

During Monday’s hearing, several residents complained about years of double-digit property tax increases. A woman from the North End said, “You’re pushing me out of my home with property taxes.”

A resident of Ward 3 said his taxes have gone up 40% in the last three years, including 24% for 2025.

And a new homeowner in Ward 5 said of her already increasing tax bill: “We’re here, we want to be here and we’re already wondering if we’ve made a mistake.”

At the end of the hearing, Jalali said, “We have much work ahead of us.”

The middle ground: a 7.2% increase.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher said Carter, too, would like the levy to be lower. But proposing a 5% increase would mean an additional cut of $6 million from 2025 city services — a reduction that could slow fire response times and license application processing and reduce parks and recreation and library services.

“He doesn’t have a path to do that without reducing services that will be felt by the people who are currently getting them,” Tincher said.

If the two sides cannot agree on a tax levy for 2025, state law would require the city to institute this year’s levy. That, Tincher said, would lead to drastic cuts in city personnel and services, as costs go up every year because of things like health care, insurance and previously negotiated salary increases.

The gap between revenue and costs, then, she said, would be $16 million.

What’s different, she said, is a City Council with four new members unfamiliar with the process.

“So, you know, there’s a piece of this that it may be taking a little bit longer because it’s the first time for a number of people who are critical to the process,” she said. “Where the mayor’s at, we’re just focused on getting something figured out and getting to a consensus and getting something that works for everybody.”