Residents to vote on sales tax questions
Two Yes/No Questions for Funding City Projects
This election, Roseville residents are answering two questions on the ballot about increasing the local sales tax in order to build new facilities for the city. The city has branded this effort “Invest in Roseville” to finance a Maintenance Operations Center for $64.2 million and the License and Passport Center for $12.7 million. The ballot measures are asking for approval to add a half percent sales tax to finance these projects.
Over the last several years, the City Council has been creating a plan to redevelop some city property to accommodate these new facilities.
In April 2021, the city council approved a Civic Campus Master Plan Study and in October 2022, the City Council adopted the Civic Campus Pre-Design Study.
The new Maintenance Operations Center will be located at the northwest corner of Lexington Avenue and Woodhill Drive, on the current location of the VFW and Veterans Park.
The new License & Passport Center will be located across the street, at the southwest corner of Lexington Ave and Woodhill Drive, behind the fire station.
The VFW would move across the street, next door to the new License & Passport center. Discussions for how to make up for the loss of Veterans Park are underway, but no plans have been finalized.
The Civic Campus Master Plan is on hold until funding is secured, which brings us to the 2024 Ballot questions.
The Ballot Questions
Question 1 - Yes/No
Sales Tax for Public Works and Parks Operations Facility
Shall the City of Roseville impose a one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $64,200,000, plus the costs of interest and of issuing the bonds, to build a public works and parks operations facility? By voting "yes" on this question, you are voting to increase the sales tax in Roseville. If one or both questions are approved by the voters, the City is only authorized to impose a single one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for the lesser of 20 years or until enough sales tax revenue has been raised to pay for the costs of one or both of the proposed projects.
Question 2 - Yes/No
Sales Tax for License and Passport Center
Shall the City of Roseville impose a one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $12,700,000, plus the costs of interest and of issuing the bonds, to build a license and passport center? By voting "yes" on this question, you are voting to increase the sales tax in Roseville. If one or both questions are approved by the voters, the City is only authorized to impose a single one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for the lesser of 20 years or until enough sales tax revenue has been raised to pay for the costs of one or both of the proposed projects.
Next Steps
If both measures pass, the total increase to Roseville sales tax will be 0.5%.
For context, the current local sales tax in 2024 is 8.375%, which includes the 6.88% Minnesota sales tax, the 0.5% Ramsey County transit tax, the 0.75% metro area transportation tax, and the .25% metro area tax for housing. Essential goods, such as groceries, clothing, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, feminine hygiene products, and baby products are exempt from local and state sales tax. The proposed 0.5% sales tax would be in effect for 20 years, or until the projects are paid for—whichever happens first. (source.)
Mayor Dan Roe clarified via email that the scope and location of the proposed building projects is largely settled at this point as a result of the preliminary planning. However, “there are several steps that have yet to be taken with respect to developing final plans and the contractor bidding process. All of the remaining steps would continue to involve engagement with the neighbors and the city more broadly,” Roe wrote.
If Ballot Question 1 for funding the maintenance facility fails, the City would revisit the timing and funding for the project. “Without another funding source the project would have to be paid for with property taxes,” Roe said.
If Ballot Question 2 for the new license center passes, but Ballot Question 1 fails, further steps would need to be taken to adjust the plan. The reason the City is moving the license center is to make space for the proposed new maintenance facility, Roe explained.
City Council and Finance Commission Joint Meeting
The building project and ballot measures were discussed during a joint meeting of the City Council and Finance Commission on September 16.
Finance Commission Chair Bruce Bester raised the question whether the city would reconsider the location of the new maintenance facility and look at industrial properties instead.
“I think we’re past that point. I can’t imagine that on a 72 million dollar project that acquiring the necessary land, the necessary eight acres of land in industrial property is going to make the project cheaper. I can’t even conceive of that possibility, because right now we have land that we already own and it costs that much money, so it seems to me the question has already been answered. It doesn’t seem to me something that we’d direct the commission to take a look at at this point,” Mayor Dan Roe said at the meeting.
In response, Councilmember Julie Strahan expressed concern about the community’s understanding and buy-in for the project.
“I don’t think the community realizes that there’s no going back,” Strahan said at the meeting. “They didn’t realize that six years ago is when they needed to have an opinion against it in order for it to stop.”
In response, Roe said, “The process to get to where this is now was certainly not without public engagement, including hearing from neighbors and very valid concerns about noise and other aspects of the project.”
If these sales tax questions on the ballot fail, the city would engage with residents to find out why they didn’t support the plan and explore other options to solve the project funding and building space challenges. The timing and cost of the project would also be impacted. However, getting the sales tax option back on the ballot for a future election would be challenging, Roe expressed during the meeting.
“I really hope the sales tax ballot measure passes. It will cost residents a lot less in sales tax than it would cost us if we residents have to pay for it all through property tax. Think about how the whole region shops in Roseville. If the region uses the mall area, it’s fair for the region to pay for the road maintenance,” Dan Sägisser, Finance Commission member told The Roseville Reader.
If voters approve the 0.5% local sales tax to support these projects, the city will move forward with implementing its plans in 2025. Construction would likely begin in the fall of 2025. The new License & Passport Center is estimated to open by the summer of 2028. The new Maintenance Operations Center is estimated to be complete by summer 2029.
Learn More
Mayor Dan Roe presented information about this project in his 2024 State of the City video. The Invest in Roseville segment begins at the 8:21 mark.
More details about this development plan, including an FAQ, are available on the Invest in Roseville website.
Watch a recording of the September 16 joint-meeting between City Council and the Finance Commission here. The Finance Commission portion comes after the Park Commission, at the 51:12 mark.
Early voting opened in Minnesota on September 20 and the last day to vote is Tuesday, November 5.