Mayor’s Budget Address

​First off, heads up that we are conducting another round of public safety surveying, August 20–September 6, measuring public perceptions of crime and safety in Saint Paul. If you’d like to participate, click here and opt in to the survey. We will have an analysis done by early October, in time to discuss the results in the context of city budget discussions. We hope you'll opt in and help us gather important data for our advocacy work!
 
Next: Mayor Carter presented his annual budget address today at noon, at the Ordway. His message carried three key themes: public safety (remains a top priority, more investments), housing (capitalizing on new metro wide sales tax to offer more resources); and a rather interesting proposal to consider regarding rent stabilization.
 
Rent control is a lightning rod issue, and I remain convinced this is bad policy. That said, Mayor Carter clearly is trying to make it work. And I applaud his creative thinking. His proposal is to maintain rent control for all rental housing units built before 2004 (which represents about 95% of our building stock).  All rental units built after 2004, then, would be exempt. He clearly is wanting to encourage more development, and this just might work. We still have more people than housing units. New housing permits have dropped precipitously since the adoption of rent stabilization. We continue to add people AND, if we aren’t building enough new units, the housing shortage will get worse. All while Highland Bridge is in flux and The Heights is on the horizon.
 
This is interesting to me. The Mayor is threading a delicate needle because he needs to balance the intent of a rent stabilization ordinance with the need to advance new development. I look forward to knowing more about this, in the hopes of finding a path forward that allows the City Council to exercise its values regarding fair rent increases while ensuring we can increase the housing supply. So stay tuned!
 
 
See you in the trenches,
 
B