When St. Paul voters go to the polls, they’ll encounter two ballot questions that could have far-reaching impacts on their property taxes, child care options and municipal elections.

The first question asks voters whether to approve a 10-year property tax increase that would go up by $2 million annually to raise funds for municipal child care subsidies, reaching $20 million in year 10. Proponents say child care costs have soared out of reach for many working families, especially families of color, who could reap life-long benefits from early education. Opponents say taxing housing is the wrong way to fund such an initiative, which they say is better left to the state, county or school district.

The second question asks whether to move municipal elections from odd years to even years so they overlap with presidential elections, capturing higher voter turnout while eliminating some city spending related to off-year elections. A local election can cost the city $1 million to host, though it’s unclear how much of that cost would be eliminated entirely by combining it with a national one.Proponents say that given plummeting odd-year voter turnout, a paltry percentage of registered voters currently elect the mayor and city council. Critics have said local races will be drowned out by statewide and national elections, and the St. Paul school district may still host its own elections on odd years and be forced to bear the costs alone; taxpayers would foot the bill either way, though within different geographies.

“Maybe it’s not a savings to taxpayers generally, but it’s still a savings to the city of St. Paul,” said even-year proponent Peter Butler. “Most metro cities are on even-year elections. Out of about 825 cities, only 25 or so are on odd years.”

We asked the mayor and seven members of the St. Paul City Council how they planned to vote on the two ballot questions. The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

The questions

“City of St. Paul: City Question 1

“In order to create a dedicated fund for children’s early care and education to be administered by a City department or office that provides subsidies to families and providers so that early care and education is no cost to low-income families and available on a sliding scale to other families, and so as to increase the number of child care slots and support the child care workforce, shall the City of Saint Paul be authorized to levy property taxes in the amount of $2,000,000 in the first year, to increase by the same amount each year following for the next nine years ($4,000,000 of property taxes levied in year two, $6,000,000 in year three, $8,000,000 in year four and so on until $20,000,000 of property taxes are levied in year ten)?

“BY VOTING ‘YES’ ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION, YOU ARE VOTING FOR A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.”

“City of St. Paul: City Question 2

“Changing City elections to presidential election years.

“Shall Chapter 7 (Elections) of the City Charter be amended as follows: Sec. 7.01. — City elections. The election of city officers and such other officers as are required by law to be elected at a city election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in odd numbered presidential election years. Notwithstanding Section 2.02 of this Charter setting four-year terms, and to transition to presidential election years, councilmembers elected on November 7, 2023, shall serve a five-year term and a mayoral election shall occur on November 4, 2025, for a three-year term. Currently, city elections take place in odd years. A “yes” vote changes City elections to take place in presidential election years, which occur in even years. A ‘no’ vote keeps City elections in odd years.”

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said he will vote “No” on child care subsidies, and indicated general concern about shifting local races to even-year elections.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> Carter has come out strongly against the child care subsidy proposal, noting it would lock the city into 10 years of new spending for an untested new program projected to reach as few as 154 kids in need in the first year, a far cry from the 10,500 kids ages 0-5 living within 185% of the federal poverty level and the 20,000 kids in the city. The mayor has said he is not legally obligated to impose the new tax levy, even if voters “authorize” it, which is how the question is worded.

“All parties agree that $20 million per year is insufficient to fund the full set of promises listed above,” wrote Carter, in a recent letter to the city council. “The consultant report commissioned by the City Council acknowledges that ‘maturity of the program would not occur during the 10 years’ or within the $20 million projected in the implementation plan, and a recent analysis by professional staff in the city’s Office of Financial Services concluded that full delivery … would require over $100 million in annual funding.”

EVEN-YEAR ELECTIONS >> Carter and some other political organizers have noted that voters exhausted by advertising and campaign activity around national and statewide races might have little appetite for yet another round of candidate door-knocking, fundraising, debates and other campaigning related to busy ranked-choice local races.

“Local issues have the most impact on our lives, but the least coverage in our media,” said Carter, in a written statement on Tuesday. “While I am concerned by the possibility of critical issues like neighborhood safety, trash collection and street maintenance being drowned out by the clamor of a national campaign year, the city will follow the will of the voters with regard to this ballot measure.”

Council member Anika Bowie

Council member Anika Bowie did not return a response.

Council President Mitra Jalali

Council President Mitra Jalali said she will vote “No” on both questions.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> “I fundamentally disagree with taxes from the city property levy being used to fund a voucher system that won’t serve all families and won’t expand capacity. That is what the constituents that I represent expect of me and of our city government. With record investment in child care made possible by the state, our local government’s role should be in helping families access that assistance while advocating for the federal government to do more.”

EVEN-YEAR ELECTIONS >> “I strongly oppose moving city elections to even-numbered years, first because (combining a ranked-choice local ballot with a presidential ballot) is not possible under current state law. Second, it stands to disenfranchise voters of color, young voters and voters who need additional outreach because it doesn’t dedicate any additional resources to help those people educate themselves and get to the polls on Election Day. Our local elections deserve more attention for the amount of impact they have on our constituents. It is challenging to compete for voters’ attention on issues that range from voting for the highest level of office in the land to the most ultra-local issue that is going to affect them the most. It actually will result in fewer face-to-face conversations with voters for the elected officials that are closest to them.”

Council member Cheniqua Johnson

Council member Cheniqua Johnson said she plans to vote “No” on both questions.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> “I think it’s important that the city puts its funding into what we do well, and I’m not sure that’s in the realm of the child care voucher program. We need to re-invest in our downtown. We need to invest in our infrastructure. We need to build more affordable housing. There’s a lot of things that I would like to see happen with the tax levy in the next few years, and this isn’t something I think the city should be responsible for. Our state and federal partners need to join us in covering child care for our families, and I don’t think it’s something that we can afford to do on our own.”

EVEN-YEAR ELECTIONS >> “I think that the main goal of it is to try and increase turnout for local elections, and I just think there’s other ways to do that. Council candidates right now are able to have different levels of conversations with everyday community members that I feel would be lost if they’re one of many candidates on the ticket. Putting a presidential race on a ballot alongside a ranked-choice council election would be very confusing for the average voter. It makes for a big ballot. I’m not sure people would finish the ballot, or how we would explain the difference between the ranked-choice ballot and the ballot that is not ranked-choice.”

Council member Saura Jost

Council member Saura Jost was unavailable for an interview this week but said she was undecided on the child care subsidy question and would vote “No” on even-year elections.

Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim

Council Vice President HwaJeong Kim plans to vote “Yes” on the child care subsidy question and said she plans to vote “No” on even-year elections.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> In September, council members Kim, Rebecca Noecker and Nelsie Yang co-authored a guest editorial in the Pioneer Press urging a “Yes” vote on child care subsidies. “Childcare in Minnesota is prohibitively expensive and thousands of kids in St. Paul are missing out,” they wrote. “On average, the cost of care for one child is $13,000 per year. In St. Paul, where a majority of children live in families with incomes below 185% of the federal poverty line (about $54,000 for a family of four), childcare is an impossible burden. At the same time, childcare operators — especially in-home providers who are often women of color — are struggling to stay afloat. Despite increased investments by the state in recent years, hundreds of St. Paul children remain on waitlists for childcare, and most families pay more for childcare than they do for housing.”

EVEN-YEAR ELECTIONS >> “In on-year elections, the atmosphere becomes very partisan, so parsing out local issues becomes even more important in my mind. Walking out your front door, almost anything you can see, or do, or be charged for is local, and being able to have an opportunity to weigh in on local issues becomes even more important. Otherwise, we just get sort of washed away in national and statewide races.”

Council member Rebecca Noecker

Council member Rebecca Noecker said she has already voted “Yes” on both questions.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> “I believe that it’s the smartest investment that we can make for our community getting our kids off to a great start … to do things now that would have positive impacts 10, 20, 30 years from now, so we’re going upstream to deal with some of our hardest to address social issues that will need years of social engagement. … There’s a thoughtful plan. We would be the first in Minnesota, which I think would be an exciting sweet spot. … The economic return on investment can be up to $16 for every $1 we put in.”

EVEN-YEAR ELECTIONS >> “Reasonable people can disagree on this one. I can see arguments on both sides. I think candidates should be elected by the broadest cross-section of our community, and should have to make their case to the broader community, instead of making their arguments to a narrow band of voters. It saves significant money instead of running an election every year. There’s a lot of pressing needs and we can use that money elsewhere.”

Council member Nelsie Yang

Council member Nelsie Yang was unavailable for an interview but said she would vote “Yes” on child care subsidies and “No” on even-year elections.

CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES >> In their September guest editorial on the child care ballot question, Noecker, Kim and Yang wrote: “The opportunity is too good to miss. Most brain development occurs before the age of 5. When young children are in stimulating learning environments, they build the social and emotional skills that help them succeed in school and life. If we miss this window of development, we spend time and money catching up later on.”