State of Minneapolis: hope and hurdles

Opinion editor's note:Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Minneapolis is "brimming with possibility and leaning into change," Mayor Jacob Frey said during his State of the City address on Tuesday. In his seventh annual speech since first taking office, he described a city that is rebounding even though significant budget challenges loom.

Frey touched on number of areas in which the city has made notable progress. The city invested $363 million in affordable rental housing and homeownership programs in the past six years and has produced 4,679 total units of affordable housing. Also touted were nation-leading plans on climate change and statistics that suggest increased visits and activities downtown.

Frey reported an uptick in applications for city positions, including for jobs in the depleted Police Department. And he addressed his continuing and well-intentioned efforts to repurpose the Third Precinct police building destroyed in 2020 rioting following George Floyd's murder as a "democracy center" and community space — a plan the City Council has so far rejected. But he could have done more in the speech to directly address continuing public concern over public safety — more specifically violent crime committed by juveniles.

In a post-speech conversation with an editorial writer, Frey acknowledged the continuing issues residents have with crime. He lamented the times when he has heard from a parent who wants their child to be arrested, detained and counseled. Additional secure places for juveniles are sorely needed, he said, both for the safety of young people and the general public.

During his speech, Frey addressed what is arguably the city's top immediate challenge:how to create a 2025 budget that doesn't include city layoffs or double-digit property tax increases. Those possibilities exist because downtown property values have dropped, pandemic funds are ending, and unionized workers are demanding more to keep up with inflation. City officials need to collect enough in revenue to support its operations, programs and roughly 4,200 employee positions — the largest chunk of the city's $1.83 billion annual budget.

Council President Elliott Payne told the Star Tribune that Tuesday's speech was too upbeat and that it was a "missed opportunity to talk about the challenges working people face." Payne expressed concern that the steepest tax increases could affect lower-income residents because their property values have risen the fastest over the past year.

That's true, and we hope Frey and Payne and his council colleagues will dig into the city's budget and work together to find efficiencies. The fact that Frey can no longer count on majority support on the council means that's not a certainty.

For his part, Frey said he and his administration will work hard to avoid tax increases larger than his original proposed levy increase of 6.1% or less. "We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and accessible city. We will neither be inclusive nor accessible by taxing people out of their homes," he said.

The mayor explained that the levy percentage increase isn't the same as actual increases to property tax bills. Those increases are driven by property values, and those have yet to be estimated.

As the mayor and council are crafting the city's 2025 budget, they should certainly be guided by Frey's admonition that "This is not the year to add new, shiny programs. It's the year to effectively carry out the ones we have." They should also be mindful of the most efficient and economically prudent ways to turn the city's "possibilities" into concrete achievements.