St. Paul, Mounds View and Roseville voters will weigh in on a range of ballot questions in November, deciding whether to subsidize child care and change future election calendars, switch to city-organized trash collection, and adopt a sales tax to pay for new city buildings.

St. Paul

In St. Paul, residents will be voting on two questions. The first question asks residents whether to increase property taxes annually for 10 years to fund municipal child care subsidies for low- and moderate-income families.

The question is backed by the “Yes for St. Paul Families” coalition — previously known as the St. Paul All Ready for Kindergarten campaign, or SPARK — which is chaired by Halla Henderson, a St. Paul school board member.

RELATED: Key child care advocacy group stays mum on St. Paul’s child care subsidy ballot question

Ballot question language: SHOULD THE CITY LEVY TAXES TO PROVIDE EARLY LEARNING SUBSIDIES?

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.

Shifting election years

The second question asks residents to vote on whether city elections should take place in even years — making them coincide with presidential and gubernatorial elections — rather than the current model of odd years.

Peter Butler, a former city financial analyst, has tried before to put the question forward to St. Paul voters, but this is the first time it’s made it to the ballot.

Supporters cite lower voter turnout during odd-year elections. Opponents fear it would lead local races to be overshadowed by better-funded state and national ones.

RELATED: November ballot will feature question to St. Paul voters on even-year local elections

Ballot question language: 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.

Mounds View

In Mounds View, voters will decide whether the city will have an organized residential solid waste collection system replace its current competitive market collection system. If approved, most residences will have trash, recycling, and other solid waste collected by a city-designated hauler in a city-designated collection district, according to the ballot question. The city now has five separate licensed haulers collecting trash and recycling.

The Mounds View city council adopted a seven-year contract in August with Lakeshore Recycling Systems, with services beginning under that contract in April if voters approve the change.

“This was a resident-driven petition to the charter,” said Mounds View city administrator Nyle Zikmund.

To learn more about this question, go to mvtrashservicesplan.org.

Ballot question language: Should the city adopt organized residential solid waste collection?

Should the City establish a system for organized residential solid waste collection in which most residential dwellings will have trash, recycling, and other solid waste collected by a City-designated hauler in a City-designated collection district? The organized collection system would replace the current competitive market collection system. A “Yes” vote is a vote to allow organized collection. A “No” vote is a vote against organized collection.

Roseville

Two questions will be on the ballot for Roseville residents, but they apply to the same project, according to City Manager Patrick Trudgeon. One question asks residents whether the city should impose a 0.5% sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $64.2 million to build a public works and parks operations facility.

The second question asks voters if the city should impose a 0.5% sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $12.7 million to build a license and passport center.

The city’s plans for a new operations facility would displace the current license and passport center, according to Roseville Mayor Dan Roe in a state of the city video address. The city’s public works and parks operation facility houses city vehicles used to maintain city and park infrastructure, but the city is looking to update the facility.

“We’ve run out of space to store and maintain the more than 300 city vehicles it takes to keep the city running, including snowplows, street sweepers, mowers, sewer equipment and park maintenance equipment,” Roe said.

If one or both questions are approved by voters, the tax increase will total 0.5%, not a full 1 percent. The tax would expire once the approved projects are fully funded.

With a sales tax, the city is able to share some of the costs for the facilities with non-residents, Trudgeon said. A study done with the city and the University of Minnesota Extension found that 64% of sales tax generated comes from non-residents, Trudgeon said.

To learn more about the proposed project, go to investinroseville.org.

Ballot questions language: Sales Tax for Public Works and Parks Operations Facility

Shall the City of Roseville impose a one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $64,200,000, plus the costs of interest and of issuing the bonds, to build a public works and parks operations facility? By voting “yes” on this question, you are voting to increase the sales tax in Roseville. If one or both questions are approved by the voters, the City is only authorized to impose a single one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for the lesser of 20 years or until enough sales tax revenue has been raised to pay for the costs of one or both of the proposed projects.

Sales Tax for License and Passport Center

Shall the City of Roseville impose a one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for up to 20 years to collect $12,700,000, plus the costs of interest and of issuing the bonds, to build a license and passport center? By voting “yes” on this question, you are voting to increase the sales tax in Roseville. If one or both questions are approved by the voters, the City is only authorized to impose a single one-half of one percent (0.5%) sales and use tax for the lesser of 20 years or until enough sales tax revenue has been raised to pay for the costs of one or both of the proposed projects.

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With 3M’s healthcare spin-off eyeing the former Blue Cross Blue Shield campus in Eagan for its new headquarters, city officials have sought to clarify exactly where Solventum’s more than 1,100 employees might land.

The 55-acre Blue Cross campus maintains a general address of 3535 Blue Cross Road, but Solventum — currently based at 3M headquarters in Maplewood — wants the building across the street from the original Blue Cross headquarters.

“Solventum is considering renovating a different building located at 1750 Yankee Doodle Road, on the west side of Highway 13,” city spokeswoman Sara Leier Horwath said Friday.

The Yankee Doodle Road location could host 600 to 800 employees per day, according to city staff documents prepared for the Eagan City Council.

Solventum and the city have been tight-lipped about other details, waiting instead for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to take the lead as it reviews the company’s requests for two types of relocation assistance this month.

The Eagan City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution supporting the company’s loan applications to both the Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) and the state’s Jobs Creation Fund to renovate an existing building on the Blue Cross campus into “a high-tech medical research and development facility.”

The size of the two loan requests was not spelled out in the council documents. DEED would be responsible for reviewing and administering the loans. A spokesperson for DEED had no immediate details to share Friday.

The package would include $100,000 in loan forgiveness that would otherwise be paid to Eagan’s revolving MIF fund.

Also Friday, Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire released a brief written statement through Horwath, which said: “We’re thrilled about the prospect of Solventum joining the Eagan business community. Their presence would further strengthen our position as a hub for innovation and economic growth.”

The 55-acre Blue Cross Blue Shield site became available last year after many of the insurance company’s roughly 3,000 employees opted for a hybrid work model. Solventum, which maintains some 20,000 employees across 300 offices in 38 countries, spun off from 3M in March.

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St. Thomas football will forever be known as the program that was so dominant that it got kicked out of its league.

Success also came early for the Tommies in its move to Division I and the Pioneer Football League, so the type of adversity they are facing as they begin league play on Saturday against Stetson at O’Shaughnessy Stadium is unlike any they’ve experienced in years.

The 1-3 Tommies’ latest loss was a 64-0 drubbing at Lindenwood two weeks ago. The 64 points were the most given up by the Tommies since a 69-13 loss at St. John’s in 1993. After opening this season with a 34-13 loss to Division II Sioux Falls, the question has to be asked if this team, expected to contend for its second league title in four years, is underachieving.

Head coach Glenn Caruso said it depends on who is on the field.

“The answer will be told in the next month,” he said. “Once we get some guys healthy and are able to have some consistency, and play teams that are in our league and we are familiar with, this next month will tell us more than this last month did.”

As the Lindenwood score indicates, Caruso said the Tommies did not play well on offense, defense or special teams. The only significant changes that will come after the bye week, however, involve the return of some key starters.

“There are no major alarms going off that things have to change,” Caruso said. “We know what we have to do, and we worked really hard this week to get as many guys healthy and back as we possibly could.

“Once someone is ready to play a game, it doesn’t mean they’re game-ready to play 40 reps, let alone 70 reps. The ramping-up process is still something we are in the middle of.”

Caruso expects the Tommies’ top two running backs, Gabe Abel and Hope Adebayo, to play. Wide receiver Jacob Wildermuth also couple return, but in a limited role. The same is true of linebacker Nick Flaskamp.

A significant number of injuries over the past three-plus seasons have come against Division I opponents with players on athletic scholarship. St. Thomas will have to weigh the benefits of playing higher-caliber opponents against the physical strain it puts on its players.

“That’s something we’ll review at the end of the season,” Caruso said. “But I’m not going to negate the fact that when you do play bigger, tougher teams, the physical toll is something you absolutely have to account for.

“The hope is that, regardless of what the outcome is on the scoreboard, that we can go into the conference season as well prepared as we can. Right now we have an inordinate amount of guys who are out from game-day injuries.”

Caruso said two quarterbacks will see action on Saturday, but did not specify which two. Tak Tateoka and Michael Rostberg have started games this season, and Amari Powell got his first playing time of the season against Lindenwood.

“We need to find who is going to be the one who allows the rest of the offense to operate the game plan,” Caruso said.

Meanwhile, how the lopsided loss to Lindenwood plays on the team’s psyche is not something Caruso said he is concerned about.

“The belief in one another, the belief in this culture, is tremendously high,” he said. “Any college football season is a long season. Even in times that were perceived as our best years, there were times where we weren’t very good relative to what I though we could be.

“The opportunities are all over the place for us to grow. We just have to get the right guys in the right position to do it, and then get them the amount of reps they need to learn what they need to learn.”

 

Minnesota United at Vancouver Whitecaps

When: 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday
Where: BC Place
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Betting line: Vancouver minus-105; draw plus-280; MNUFC plus-235

Form: MNUFC (13-12-6, 46 points) was held without a goal for the first time in 12 matches during a scoreless draw with Salt Lake on Wednesday. Vancouver (13-10-8, 47 points) was beaten 3-0 by Seattle on Wednesday and is winless in four straight games.

Check-in: MNUFC was riding on a coach bus in Utah when it clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs on Wednesday. “There is definitely a sense of satisfaction, but also a sense of we want to go again,” Ramsay said. “I think the next two games are really crucial in that.”

History: Vancouver beat Minnesota 3-1 in St. Paul on July 3, but the Loons had a 2.9-1.4 expected goals advantage and MNUFC’s roster was a shell of what it is now.

Look-ahead: The eighth-seeded Loons can jump over the seventh-seeded ‘Caps with a victory in British Columbia on Saturday. Vancouver, however, has played one fewer game and will go even during the international window next weekend against second-place LAFC. MNUFC won’t play again until the season finale on Decision Day against St. Louis on Oct. 19.

Absences: Teemu Pukki (adductor) and Zarek Valentin (lower leg) are out. Michael Boxall (yellow-card accumulation) is suspended. DJ Taylor (hamstring) is questionable.

Update: MNUFC had a conversation with MLS about removing Boxall’s yellow card Wednesday. “But I don’t think there was any sort of mechanism for that to be rescinded,” Ramsay said. “I’m sure the details will be revealed at some point as to the fallout of how that was dealt with and who suffered what, but not a nice instance in any way.”

The MLS Disciplinary Committee will be looked to for what kind of punishment will be coming to Brayan Vera, who spit at Boxall late in Wednesday’s match. He already received a red card.

Projected XI: In a 5-3-2 formation, FW Kelvin Yeboah, FW Tani Oluwaseyi; MF Hassani Dotson, MF Wil Trapp, MF Robin Lod; LWB Joseph Rosales, CB Micky Tapias, CB Jefferson Diaz, CB Carlos Harvey, RWB Bongi Hlongwane; GK Dayne St. Clair

Scouting report: The Whitecaps will be without one — and maybe two — of their key goal-scorers. Fafa Picault, who has 14 goal contributions, will be suspended after a red card against Sounders. Ryan Gauld, who has 21 goal contributions, was questionable with a knee injury against Seattle and didn’t play. With 17 goal contributions, Brian White did played forward midweek.

Insight: When looking at Vancouver, Ramsay focused on the Whitecaps’ defense. “They defend in a really unique way, and they did when they came to our place,” he said. “They are almost a pure back three with no cover from the wingbacks, which is really hard to execute with players that are struggling physically. I think their manager made reference to that.”

Prediction: Both teams will be playing their third match in eight days, so fatigue figures to be a factor. Vancouver has had the pleasure of staying home, while Minnesota will play in its third stadium in a third time zone. The Loons’ recent form and squad depth will come in handy in a 2-1 win.