St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her delivered her 2027 budget proposal amid some public scrutiny over an ongoing homelessness crisis, and a review of her leadership with allegations of sexual harassment.
The mayor's budget trims police numbers to 605 officers, and introduces a property tax levy increase.
"We were able to limit property tax levy increase to 6.8%, a meaningful reduction from the more than 12% increase we otherwise would have faced," said Her.
She also doubled down on plans to close homeless encampments throughout the city, but she urged state and federal partners to share in the financial responsibility.
"It forced every level of government and service providers to confront the reality that this challenge has outgrown the capacity of any one local government to solve alone," Mayor Her explains.
The city, along with Ramsey County, recently shutdown a homeless encampment in Pig's Eye Park, but many of those residents just moved on to another homeless encampment in the city. There are plans to close those encampments at a later date.
Police Chief Axel Henry attended the address and applauded, raising questions about his relationship with the mayor following his recent sexual harassment complaint that is still under review.
As for the property tax levy, Her defended the decision by warning that doing nothing could lead to even larger tax spikes later on.
"If we spent an additional $120 million to build housing, and provide wraparound services for every individual in the encampments, that would translate to over a 50% increase in the property tax levy," adds Her. "That is in addition to the 6.8% that is being proposed."
The proposal now heads to the City Council for public discussion.
Minneapolis budget proposal calls for even higher property tax increase
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also shared his budget proposal this week. Minneapolis faces a $60 million budget deficit with Frey proposing a number of job cuts along with a double-digit property tax increase.
Despite that dour news, the Mayor spoke with WCCO's Chad Hartman Thursday about a couple bright spots in the city's future. One of those, he claims, is office space.
"In the first quarter of 2026, vacancies are down by 150,000 square feet in downtown alone," Frey explained. "What that means is that there's 150,000 square feet of office space that is occupied now that wasn't occupied at the beginning of the year."
Frey says there was close to another 100,000 square feet filled in the second quarter.
