Aiming to reverse the decline in housing construction, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s budget proposal calls for eliminating rent controls passed by the city’s voters in 2021, but only for properties built after 2004. The mayor said Tuesday that up to 95% of the city’s rental housing stock would continue to be covered by the 3% rent cap.
Most City Council members say they need more time to look at the details before deciding how to vote on a possible change to the ordinance – although Council Member HwaJeong Kim was not among them.
Kim was the only council member on Tuesday to speak out clearly against the proposed changes to rent control.
“We should not weaken our rent control ordinances,” she said. “We should strengthen them and bring them back to what the voters approved.”
“St. Paul voters have made it clear what they want with rent control, and to hear that the mayor wants to weaken the ordinance is very disheartening,” added Kim, council vice president, after the mayor’s 2025 budget forecast at the Ordway Center downtown. “My hope and goal is that the council will put forward a budget that is not only better, but also takes into account the wants and needs of the constituents.”
Changes to the rent cap
Carter, who unveiled his $855 million budget proposal Tuesday along with a proposal for a 7.9 percent tax increase, said he would like to see the council vote on the proposed rent control changes by the end of the year, while also passing an annual budget that paves the way for a “portfolio” of housing projects.
These measures would include $1 million for anti-homelessness initiatives through Catholic Charities and Heading Home Ramsey, new renter protections and an expanded Inheritance Fund homebuyer program that includes the West Side Flats.
Council President Mitra Jalali said the draft budget overall reflects “many priorities that we support and on which we have worked with the administration,” as well as some areas “for further issues that we will discuss together in the coming months. … Our council is committed to maintaining rent stabilization.”
Any change to rent control, said Jalali, would require “a careful review of all evidence of its implementation to date.”
Councillor Anika Bowie called housing “a very urgent need that requires a comprehensive approach” and said: “We need some time to talk to our constituents and also our colleagues about what can be a strong, safer housing policy that protects tenants but also provides opportunities for people to create housing.”
“One of the things that stood out to me was removing the barriers (to housing) that criminal backgrounds create,” Bowie added. “I’m really interested in developing policies that give people a second chance to live in St. Paul.”
Council member Nelsie Yang said she needs time to involve more tenants in the rent control discussion.
“This is the first time I’m hearing about this, and so it’s really important to me to hear from members of our community, especially the people who are most impacted by the measures we pass or don’t pass,” Yang said.
Council member Rebecca Noecker, chair of the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority, said that while it’s no “secret that there have been problems with rent control,” she wants to see more concrete data that makes a concrete connection between the slowdown in the housing market and the city’s rent control policies.
Council member Cheniqua Johnson has previously criticized a 20-year exemption from rent control for new construction approved by the previous City Council. “I did not support that change,” she said, but said she would take time to read through the mayor’s budget proposal and “hear the details.”
Johnson said she had hoped for a more “conservative” tax increase than the 7.9%.
Council member Saura Jost said she looks forward to diving into the details of the budget.
“I think it’s been a challenging year and a lot of difficult decisions have had to be made,” Jost said, “but I think there have been some bright spots around climate action and our legacy fund. That’s really exciting. I’m looking forward to working on that.”
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