St. Paul ballot includes question about raising property taxes to subsidize child care costs
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The high cost of child care is front and center in Minnesota's capital city this election as voters there will weigh in on a plan to raise property taxes to help low-income families afford it.
If approved, the new special tax levy would bring in $2 million in the first year and scale up to $20 million by the tenth year of implementation for a total investment of $110 million over a decade.
The funding would support a "last dollar" early childhood learning program that would plug the gap left after accounting for any state or federal child care aid. The goal is to eliminate or reduce out-of-pocket child care costs for people making less than 185% of the federal poverty line.
"We need a solution. We've been looking to the state for years for a solution, and despite some progress, we still have this huge need for hundreds of kids," said St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker in an interview with WCCO Tuesday. "So I think it's time for the city of St Paul to step up and lead the way."
For the median home priced at $275,300, the increase is $15.91 per household for 2025 until it reaches about $160 annually ten years later, according to the final program design proposal that will be discussed during a City Council meeting Wednesday.
This specific approach has not been tested in Minnesota, but she noted other cities across the country have tried it and found success. Up north in Warren, residents approved a sales tax increase to expand a child care center in the rural town to offer families more daycare spots.
A notable critic is St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who issued just his second veto on the initial resolution passed by the city council for the plan last year. They ultimately overrode that decision, placing it on the ballot for this November's election.
In a letter detailing that decision, Carter said he agreed with the goal but was skeptical that the program could live up to its promise based on the projected revenues and the inadequate number of city staff available to implement the plan.
He maintains his concerns.
"[The report being discussed at Wednesday's city council meeting] finally reveals that the advisory referendum will not deliver on the free citywide childcare which the ballot question implies," Carter said in a new statement to WCCO. "Between misleading ballot language, absence of required campaign finance disclosures, and the first public details arriving nine days before polling begins, our voters are repeatedly being denied the needed transparency to cast an informed vote on this proposed $110 million tax increase."
The median monthly cost for child care in Ramsey County is $1,085 or $13,021 annually for one child, according to a report put together by a legislative committee tasked with studying the issue. Families whose incomes are at the federal poverty line could see more than 60% of their income go to child care.
Twenty-seven percent of children in the capital city live below that federal benchmark, that same report said.
Noecker disputes the claim that she and others supporting the proposal have not been transparent, saying there has been years of work on the issue to get to this point, including engagement with people who live in the city from providers to parents.
She admits the program will not cover everyone and acknowledges the need is great. But she believes it's worth trying something new to help as many families as possible.
"There are no public programs that are actually fully meeting the need, but that doesn't keep our communities from making a start," Noecker said.
The special tax levy would sunset 10 years after implementation, at which time the city council could ask voters to renew it.
"Let's not make any mistake about that — this is going to have a huge impact for kids and families in our community," she said.
The City Council will review the final program design plan during its Wednesday meeting, which begins at 3:30 p.m.
The full ballot question language is below:
SHOULD THE CITY LEVY TAXES TO PROVIDE EARLY LEARNING SUBSIDIES?
In order to create a dedicated fund for children's early care and education to be administered by a City department or office that provides subsidies to families and providers so that early care and education is no cost to low-income families and available on a sliding scale to other families, and so as to increase the number of child care slots and support the child care workforce, shall the City of Saint Paul be authorized to levy property taxes in the amount of $2,000,000 in the first year, to increase by the same amount each year following for the next nine years ($4,000,000 of property taxes levied in year two, $6,000,000 in year three, $8,000,000 in year four and so on until $20,000,000 of property taxes are levied in year ten)