St. Paul councilors propose $155,000 security‑credit pilot to offset festival policing costs

St. Paul City Council Organization and Policy Committee members discussed a proposal to create a security‑credit pilot program using $155,000 from this year’s budget to help offset rising policing costs for events and festivals, committee leaders said at the meeting.

The pilot would not fully cover security costs but would provide a direct credit from city funds to subsidize part of law‑enforcement expenses for qualifying, St. Paul‑based events. Council President Naker and Council Member Buie said the aim is to reduce the financial barrier that prevents some neighborhood and cultural events from proceeding.

Council Member Buie explained the magnitude of the security burden organizers face: "The cost per officer ... is $108.38 per hour," and, she said, "for example, if an event requires 25 officers, they have to pay $16,257" just for officers. Buie said the council set aside $155,000 in the budget and is proposing to allocate that money as credits administered by city staff rather than as grants distributed directly by the council.

The program outline under discussion would apply basic eligibility criteria and then use points or caps to allocate dollars. Draft criteria discussed included: the hosting organization must be based in St. Paul; the event must take place in the city; priority for legacy events (a suggested threshold discussed was roughly five years of history, not necessarily consecutive); attendance or participation should be free to the public for the portion covered by the credit; and the city could give preference to family‑oriented events or those located in areas of concentrated poverty. Buie said the pilot could cover "up to half" of a qualifying event’s security cost or a capped amount (committee discussion used $7,000 as a working figure derived from dividing the available funds among eligible events), whichever is less.

Committee members raised points the staff team said would be resolved in program design. Council President Naker cautioned that the funding is "a gesture of appreciation" rather than a full solution: "We're not talking about whether or not events can happen in Saint Paul ... we're not even really talking about fully covering anybody's security costs." Members debated whether ticketed races (where participants pay to enter) should qualify; Buie said the draft criterion requiring that attendance/participation be free was intended to exclude most paid-entry races from this subsidy.

Several councilors recommended prioritizing events in neighborhoods and those tied to small local businesses, and raised questions about how the city should treat events that already receive state or regional funding. Council Member Johnson noted Cultural Star grants now include security as an eligible expense and suggested coordination between city staff and Cultural Star administrators to avoid duplicative awards.

Staff implementation and next steps: Council Member Buie said the St. Paul Police Department special events manager, Stormy Dunn, would be the primary city contact to implement the credits and that the police department must be involved because it sets and charges the security rates. Committee members asked the city attorney and the chief administrative officer to review eligibility and legal parameters. Buie and Naker said they will return to the committee with a resolution to formalize the pilot; they said they intend to present a draft resolution in late April and be prepared to amend it after feedback and after a presentation from SPPD special events staff.

Supporters described the plan as a short‑term pilot to be revisited: "This is a pilot, let's try it and see," Buie said. Councilors urged staff to minimize administrative burden for organizers and to build application or checkbox logic into existing event permitting so eligible organizers can be identified early and automatically.

The committee did not vote on the program at the meeting. Staff and SPPD were asked to return with a draft resolution, administrative details, and clarity on coordination with Cultural Star and other grant programs.

Next steps: Committee members asked staff to circulate a written draft of the eligibility criteria to council offices, to involve SPPD special events and Cultural Star staff in the next briefing, and to request a legal review before placing a resolution on a committee or council agenda.