Maplewood council backs $81 million local option sales tax package, prioritizes public safety training and community center

The Maplewood City Council voted to seek legislative authority for a local option sales tax and to set a prioritized $81 million package of capital projects for potential voter approval.

City Manager Mike Sable outlined options and constraints, telling council members the University of Minnesota Extension Office estimated about 61% of tax revenue would likely be paid by non‑Maplewood shoppers in the region. Sable said the city must show regional significance to meet legislative criteria and reminded the council that the legislature’s approval is not guaranteed.

Council members debated which projects to include and how much to allocate. Mayor Abrams proposed $25 million for the East Metro Public Safety Training Facility so the city could demonstrate it would provide a majority of local funding for a $34 million facility. Council Member Lee, Council Member Villavicencio and others debated larger community center numbers; after discussion the council converged on $48 million for the Maplewood Community Center and $8 million for South Maplewood park improvements (Affton Park), bringing the total to $81,000,000.

Council Member Juniman moved to approve a resolution supporting the authority to impose a local sales tax for regionally beneficial capital improvements, establishing the tax duration and revenue to be raised at $81,000,000, and authorizing the city to issue bonds supported by sales tax revenue when appropriate. The motion carried.

Next steps: staff will amend the draft resolution to include the adopted priorities and dollar amounts, file required notification letters with the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate tax committees by the Jan. 31 deadline, and pursue potential bill authors at the Legislature.