St. Paul City Council poised to approve spending first year of new city sales tax on Grand Avenue, 75-80 parks projects

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press
Updated ·5 min read

Street work on Grand Avenue, the artificial turf fields at the Oxford/Jimmy Lee Rec Center and decorative fountains, sport courts and tot lots across St. Paul are about to get a major cash infusion, as is a geothermal conversion project at the Como Zoo and Conservatory.

You can also add downtown parks, everyday rec center maintenance and planning for a new River Learning Center to the list of some 75 to 80 parks projects that will receive a financial boost in just the first year of the city’s voter-approved local option sales tax.

“We’re excited for the projects moving forward,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, addressing reporters at City Hall on Friday while flanked by state Sen. Sandy Pappas, state Rep. Liz Lee, St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali and department directors from St. Paul Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Finance.

It took months of hard-fought negotiations with state lawmakers to allow St. Paul to put a ballot question before city residents last year: Should the city be allowed to raise its existing sales taxes by a percentage point for the next two decades to fund major parks and road improvements?

Voters approve sales tax hike

In November, voters answered “yes” by a margin of 60%-40%.

Collection of the city’s new sales tax — at 9.875%, the highest in the state — begins in April, and is expected to generate nearly $1 billion over 20 years to fund some 44 miles of arterial road reconstruction, as well as high-priority park maintenance and some large-scale designated parks projects.

For City Hall officials, now comes the relatively fun part. On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council is expected to approve two resolutions authorizing spending of the local option sales tax (dubbed “LOST”, for short) in the next year, the council’s first major action since convening in January.

That adds up to $13.7 million in new funding for St. Paul Public Works in 2024 alone, most of it directed at road improvements along Grand Avenue, and $31.4 million for St. Paul Parks and Recreation, which plans to make major headway on a long backlog of deferred maintenance, some of it as mundane as fixing rec center steps and doors.

Lee, one of the sponsors of the sales tax authorization in the House, noted that state coffers don’t provide dedicated funding for local roads beyond state legislative aid, which has long failed to keep pace with inflation — even after a major legislative aid boost last year to cities and counties.

That inspired some 31 cities last year to ask for legislative and voter permission to raise sales taxes to pay for basic road repair and other essential infrastructure, or even purchases such as fire engines. The Legislature has imposed a two-year moratorium on any more requests to put sales tax questions on municipal ballots.

“There are cities coming to us wanting to use sales tax for fire trucks,” Lee said. “That’s just not sustainable.”

Road projects

St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw noted that while the the sales tax money will be directed toward rebuilding heavily-traveled arterial roads, as opposed to residential side streets, freeing up pothole crews each season from the former will only benefit the latter.

“I got TikTok videos sent to me from other states about Shepard Road last year,” said Kershaw, remembering how the spring thaw that followed the record winter snows of 2022-2023 turned major roads nearly impassable. “We spent weeks putting down asphalt just to get another 18 months of life out of it.”

Moving forward, full street reconstructions on priority avenues will free up crews to focus on everyday maintenance such as sweeping and striping elsewhere, including touching-up smaller residential roads.

“Finally, we’re not just chasing potholes,” Carter said.

Road projects funded by the local option sales tax over the next few years will include major improvements along Grand from Snelling to Fairview avenues this year, University Avenue from Interstate 35E to Lafayette Boulevard next year, Jackson Street from University to Pennsylvania Avenue, and work on Earl Street and Pelham Boulevard in 2026.

Earl Street and Shepard Road will receive major attention in 2027 and 2028.

Parks and Rec projects

St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez said the city’s parks and rec facility portfolio is valued around $600 million, but “we’re probably $100 million in the hole” when it comes to badly-needed repairs. “We’ve been deferring maintenance.”

More than $400,000 will be dedicated this year toward advancing design of the long-planned River Learning Center, East Side Community Center, downtown River Balcony, a North End athletic complex and parks improvements at The Heights development, previously the site of the Hillcrest Country Club and golf course.

For Parks and Rec, a third of the its sales tax infusion this year — or about $10.4 million — will be dedicated to revitalizing buildings and addressing critical deferred maintenance. Another $7 million will fund a geothermal conversion project at the Como Zoo.

The rest will dedicated to asphalt repair at Parks and Rec parking lots, trails and sidewalks ($1.54 million), tennis and basketball courts ($4.9 million), water features throughout the city ($1 million) and downtown parks ($4.9 million).

Some of the most immediate projects include new artificial turf at the Oxford/Jimmy Lee Rec Center on Lexington Parkway, as well as work on the Highland Community Center Field, although the city is still choosing between irrigation improvements or installing artificial turf there. The Hayden Heights playground will be renovated, as will Highwood Hills Field and downtown Osborne Plaza.

The broken pipe sticking out of an exterior sidewall of the Hamline Park Building will finally be fixed this year, as will its crumbling stairs and other signs of visible deterioration. The 1930s-era community rec center at Snelling and Lafond avenue was designed by St. Paul city architect Clarence Wesley “Cap” Wigington, the nation’s first black municipal architect, and currently hosts the art studio and retail store Mosaic on a Stick.

“We have funding now to take care of the buildings that are taking care of our community,” said a visibly relieved Jalali, sitting next to Carter and other city officials on Friday. “I’m still processing the multi-year effort this has been.”

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