Multimillion-dollar ballot questions before Minnesota voters on Election Day
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Every voter in Minnesota has a chance to weigh in on a statewide ballot question, but dozens of cities, townships and a few counties are asking voters to make multimillion-dollar investments or change the way they cast a ballot.
The Minnesota Legislature failed to pass a bonding bill last session, leaving public works projects in limbo and municipalities hunting for workarounds.
Some of the priciest local proposals before voters are in Stearns County, Cottage Grove and Richfield. MPR News host Cathy Wurzer was joined by Collegeville-based correspondent Kirsti Marohn, Cottage Grove Journal publisher John McLoone and Mike Hanks, editor of the Bloomington-Richfield Sun Current on Wednesday to break down those ballot questions.
Sales tax for Richfield parks, community center investments
The city of Richfield is asking voters to approve a sales tax, in line with other similar proposals around the state, to fund building a new community center, improvements to Veterans Park and replacing the Wood Lake Nature Center building.
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It’s a half-percent sales tax for up to 20 years — and notably, “it does not stack,” Hanks said. The lack of stacking has confused some voters, who mistakenly believe the city wants to impose a 1.5 percent sales tax on residents. The three questions “are asked individually, so one, two or all three could pass, or they could all be rejected.”
Wood Lake Nature Center is a regional and “spectacular” attraction that “draws school groups throughout the year from all around the city,” Hanks attested. That renovation has an $11 million price tag, plus the cost of issuing bonds and interest. The Veterans Park question asks for $9 million to repair and improve the pool, ice arena, bandshell, minigolf building and pavilion. The new community center project asks for $45 million.
Sales tax to refurbish park, golf course; develop Cottage Grove’s first riverside park
Cottage Grove voters, too, have three ballot questions before them asking to impose a 0.5 percent sales tax for a grand total of $36 million over 25 years for recreation-focused investments.
“The city of Cottage Grove refers to it as their preserve, play, prosper project,” McLoone said.
On the table are improvements to River Oaks Golf Course and Hamlet Park — “the city’s oldest park, and there were improvements on a referendum in 2012 scheduled for that park that failed.” Those additions could include a splash pad, playground equipment, a skateboard park, athletic facilities and more.
“It’s a growing community, and the people were surveyed, and these are some of the things that people found important,” McLoone explained.
Also on the ballot is a proposal to develop the new Mississippi Dunes Park. It would be the first riverside park in the city, McLoone said, and boast a boat launch, educational opportunities, walking and hiking trails, a nature-themed playground and shoreline restoration on a 33-acre site.
“One of the [city’s] main selling points is that these are projects that have to happen, and they’re in the capital improvement plan already, using the local option sales tax will mean that 31 percent of this $36 million will come from non-Cottage Grove residents, from visitors,” McLoone said.
Public safety buildings in Stearns County
Downtown St. Cloud’s current jail and court buildings are nearly 40 years old.
“The jail is considered outdated. It’s too small and has some security issues, and they also need more courtroom space,” Marohn said.
Stearns County voters will decide whether to impose a 0.375 percent sales tax for up to 30 years to finance $325 million for a new justice center.
“County officials say there is kind of a misconception out there that if people vote against the sales tax, that the county won’t build this project, or that it won’t move the facilities outside of downtown, but they say they need to build this. So it's going to happen either way,” Marohn clarified. “If the sales tax doesn’t pass, they'll still build it, but they’ll pay for it with property taxes instead.”
St. Cloud residents will decide whether to authorize up to a $43.5 million in bonding to improve “critical” public safety facilities — including a new fire station.
“This is the area that includes [St. Cloud] Tech High School and a lot of new housing,” Marohn said “So the city’s goal is to try to reduce response times for the fire department. And they say they’ve really seen an increase in emergency calls in the last four years.
“I think we’re seeing more Minnesota counties using sales taxes to pay for these really large public safety projects,” Marohn added. “Stearns County officials argue that it’s more fair than using property taxes because it sort of spreads the cost to more people.”
Like Cottage Grove, Stearns County estimates a large chunk of sales tax revenue would come from visitors, not county residents.
“Correspondingly, about half of the people in the jail and the court system are from outside the county,” Marohn said.
Reapprove a lottery amendment for environmental projects
Proponents encourage all Minnesota voters not to leave a question reapproving a constitutional amendment earmarking some of the state’s lottery revenue for a trust fund focused on the environment and conservation blank, as that counts as a no-vote. Voters have thrice renewed the amendment; a new provision allocates 1.5 percent of funds toward projects in underserved communities.
