By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

While the St. Cloud City Council voted 3-2 Sept. 23 to increase the city tax rate to support its proposed budget, critics said higher taxes on lower property values would hurt residents who have tightened their belts and that the city should live within its means.

The approved 4.9128 millage, or $491.28 per $100,000 of assessed value, is expected to bring in more than $6.2 million to the city, with the remainder of the $90 million budget coming from sales taxes, grants, fees, fines and state funding. The budget for the city’s 2010-11 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, went down 40 percent, due mainly to the previous year’s budget having carry-over funding for the Nolte Road-Budinger Avenue road project.

Councilmen Jarom Fertic and Jay Polachek both voted against the 21.5 percent millage increase, saying the city could use its contingency funds to offset the needed money.

“There's people without jobs and people where 20 bucks makes a difference,” Fertic said.

However, Councilwoman Mickey Hopper said her decision to vote for the millage increase stemmed from looking to the future.

“We lowered our millage rate two years ago and that's why we're hurting today, because we didn't hold our ground,” she said. “I love my city. I truly do, and I can't see it go down the tubes.”

In defense of the recommended budget, Mayor Donna Hart said city employees had not received raises for three years.

The council also allocated $20,000 from the Community Redevelopment Agency to fund the St. Cloud Main Street program. The agency is not funded by ad valorem taxes, therefore the millage increase does not affect it.

Eric Dolhon, candidate for St. Cloud City Council seat 3, sent out a press release Sept. 24 suggesting that the $20,000 was essentially staying in the CRA even though it was given to Main Street because “they are the same thing.”

Dolhon said Main Street, which helps sustain and beautify the downtown district and puts on events and festivals, is a “non-critical expenditure” and the money could go toward more important expenses, such as employee raises, the fire department and sewer infrastructure.

“We have to make sure every dollar is looked at carefully,” he said. “The CRA could do better with the money than Main Street. I want to save it for a rainy day. Next year is going to be tough.”

While both the Community Redevelopment Agency and Main Street help redevelop and sustain the city, Main Street is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the downtown area, while the agency is a public entity governed by a board of directors and focuses on areas, including downtown, that are in need of rehabilitation. Main Street is eligible for grants, which the CRA then matches for projects in downtown.

“We work together; it's a partnership,” Olivia Rowland, program director for St. Cloud Main Street, said. “The purpose is to avoid the slum and blight of the community.”

Money from the redevelopment agency cannot go toward city general fund expenses, such as employee raises, as Dolhon suggested in his press release.