Steve Brandt - Minneapolis BET President

I’d like to check in with followers of this page on two developments aimed at making the Board of Estimate a more effective player in city finances.

First, the Board last night unanimously approved my resolution asking the Charter Commission to study and to place on the 2025 ballot a referendum on three charter changes.

One is returning the board to seven members so we regain the tiebreaking vote we lost when the seat held by the Library Board was eliminated with that board’s demise. The second is to fill that seat with a directly elected member of the public, bringing the number of such elected members to three. This strengthens the oversight role of citizens in city finances. The third would change the name to the Board of Debt and Taxes to better reflect the Board’s duties.

The Board also asked the City Council
to make a similar request to the Charter Commission. Council President Payne has committed to putting that on the Council’s agenda.

The other major development is the Board’s previous authorization of my proposal to return to hiring our own executive secretary. The Board was served by a full time executive secretary for a century before a previous Board took the position half time in 2019, which was not sustainable. A search will begin soon once we determine the number of hours the position warrants. I’m hoping that it will be substantially more than half time so that needed research projects can be accomplished. This will have no immediate budget impact because the Board still is spending down its budget balance from previous years.

I’ll keep you posted on how the Charter Commission proceeds.

Steve

I’ve been speaking out more recently on matters affecting your property tax.

One Star Tribune commentary linked below looks at the need for financial discipline for the 2025 budget, given what’s happening with the city’s tax base.

The other argues that continuing litigation over the 2040 comp plan is hurting what has been the most robust area of growth for our tax base—apartment construction. Fortunately, the Legislature stepped it to clarify that the higher densities in the comp plan don’t warrant further environmental review.

https://m.startribune.com/the-tale-of-two-cities-assessed-property-values/600361730/?_gl=1*sxmmjk*_ga*MjAwNjczMTE0MC4xNzE2Mjk3Mjky*_ga_SG3Y2YJFRQ*MTcxNjQ5MDk1MC4zLjEuMTcxNjQ5MTAyNi4wLjAuMA..

https://m.startribune.com/dont-risk-the-minneapolis-tax-base-by-litigating-the-2040-plan/600365941/?_gl=1*ceu7j8*_ga*MjAwNjczMTE0MC4xNzE2Mjk3Mjky*_ga_SG3Y2YJFRQ*MTcxNjQ5MDk1MC4zLjEuMTcxNjQ5MTcwMi4wLjAuMA..

OPINION EXCHANGE | The tale of two cities' assessed property values Why Minneapolis appears less healthy than St. Paul, and what lies ahead.

Very pleased to be able to relay that Minneapolis creditworthiness now is rated at a sterling AAA by both rating agencies that evaluated the city's credit. Fitch announced an upgrade from AA+ to AAA and S+P Global Credit maintained its AAA rating.

Read more at:

City of Minneapolis credit rating upgraded Bond rating agencies S&P Global and Fitch Ratings have assigned the highest credit rating possible to the City of Minneapolis, reflecting strong confidence in the City’s financial health.

I'm glad to see that the long-neglected issue of parkway paving is getting needed attention, and I'm glad that reporter Susan Du noted that the Minneapolis Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee has been harping on this issue of increased funding for years. As a CLIC member, I helped to craft its initial comment in 2019 to city leaders that parkway maintenance funding isn't keeping up with the need. CLIC has repeated this stance annually but it has fallen on deaf ears at City Hall, which controls the purse strings. As a BET member, we don't get to vote on individual capital projects but I strongly support any bonding that will give our parkways the needed funding and condition improvement. We need to take care of our existing infrastructure before we add more.

Park Board asks city for $6M annual injection to save Minneapolis parkways At the current rate of $750,000 a year, the full parkway system will be undrivable in 15 years, according to the Park Board.