Maplewood council weighs local-option sales tax to fund Community Center, public safety training facility

Maplewood leaders spent the Jan. 12 manager workshop discussing whether to seek state authorization for a local-option sales tax that could help pay for aging facilities and new projects.

City Manager Sable told the council the packet included a University of Minnesota analysis estimating a 1.5-cent sales tax would generate about $4.5 million a year within Maplewood and that roughly 60% of that revenue would come from nonresidents who shop in the city. An Ehlers and Associates borrowing analysis in the packet suggested the city could reasonably expect roughly $83,590,000 in bond proceeds depending on assumptions about interest rates and coverage factors.

"We have been talking about some of the infrastructure in the community that is aging and in need of repair," Sable said, summarizing an engineering and architectural study of the Maplewood Community Center that estimated about $20,000,000 to bring the building to a modern standard over a 10-year horizon. Sable added the city has to decide quickly: the chairs and ranking members of the state tax committees must be notified by Jan. 31…