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Forest Lake council agrees to explore hosting Congressman Stauber’s district office at City Hall
Summary
Council authorized staff to negotiate a nominal lease for a congressional district office in City Hall and return a lease to council; staff flagged tax-exempt status and typical lease amounts from comparable cities.
City staff presented a proposal to allow U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber’s district office to occupy a small amount of space in Forest Lake City Hall and the council voted to authorize staff to reach out to the congressman’s office to negotiate a lease.
Amanda (identified in the meeting as a city staff member) told the council that the congressman approached Mayor Roberts about moving a Cambridge district office to Forest Lake City Hall to improve local constituent access. Amanda said the U.S. House Office of Administrative Counsel provides a boilerplate lease for district offices and that lease terms run through the officeholder’s term (ending January 2027 in this case).
Amanda said Washington County assessor staff advised that leasing space to a congressional office would not jeopardize City Hall’s tax-exempt status if the lease is at a nominal rate; charging market-rate rent could create tax issues. She noted comparable rents in other Minnesota cities were far below market—Cambridge charged $500 per year and Chisholm $2,400 per year in the examples cited.
Council members asked about space availability and privacy; staff said several upstairs conference rooms are rarely used and have shades on glass windows, and that the use would likely be intermittent rather than full-time. A council member moved to direct Amanda to reach out to the Eighth District congressional office to discuss locating a district office at City Hall. The motion was seconded and the council recorded a vote in favor; the motion carried.
Amanda said staff would return a proposed lease to the council for consideration, taking care to set any rent at a level that preserves City Hall’s tax-exempt status and to use the Office of Administrative Counsel’s boilerplate terms. The council noted the arrangement would be nonpartisan and would be offered to whoever holds the seat in the future.
