Ramsey County released its proposed budget for the next two years, allocating significant funding toward “equity and inclusion” initiatives while raising the levy nearly 10 percent by the end of 2021.

During the past year, each proposal put before the board of commissioners has included a prominent “racial equity statement” explaining how the proposal tackles disparities.

There was a similar focus — both on income and race — during the county board meeting Tuesday, culminating in a new program called the “transforming systems together” initiative.

The initiative would require another director-level position, two employees and a $3 million budget by 2021, “to incent, change and fund approaches to strengthen communities and reduce the need for justice system responses.”

No commissioners voiced objections to the plan. Some — including board members Victoria Reinhardt and Toni Carter — spoke of the need to address lingering disparities.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

So what does all that mean?

Along the same lines as the now 14-year reform of the county’s justice system, the county wants to create a 16-member committee composed of eight county staffers representing departments from social services to public health to county courts, and eight community members. Members will figure out how to restructure the county, and how residents use and are affected by its services.

“You cannot improve outcomes without conversations about race,” county manager Ryan O’Connor said. “The question becomes: Where does the strategy for work come from, and how do we become aligned to that?”

There are other traces of the county’s equity effort across the proposed budget: “evolving” the county park system with a plan “driven by authentic community engagement and a racial equity lens.” In other words, programming reform.

The county’s information and public records department, budget documents say, will “increase efforts to racially diversify our staff to reflect the diversity in Ramsey County; and build race and cultural awareness among our staff.”

Additionally, the county wants to hire a third “racial and health equity administrator” and put $1 million into community engagement efforts, in order to reach to the minority and low-income communities they don’t typically talk to.

During the board meeting Tuesday, policy and planning director Elizabeth Tolzmann said the county needed to “be creative in spaces where there is the most discomfort.”

MORE THAN 9 PERCENT LEVY INCREASE OVER 2 YEARS

Speaking of discomfort, the county proposed a 4.75 percent levy increase in 2020, and a 4.5 percent increase in 2021 — equating to a compounded 9.46 percent increase over two years.

That means a $78 increase for the median-value single-family St. Paul home, valued at $200,000, assuming a median-value property value increase of $13,600.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes history at Capitol amid replacement turmoil Additionally, the county’s Railroad Authority wants to increase their own individual levy by the maximum amount allowable under state law — seven percent each year — to pay for transportation projects like the Gold and Rush bus lines, and the Riverview Corridor.

The county’s total budget is proposed to grow to $763 million by 2021, up from the $736 million approved budget this year.

POOR AREAS TO SEE LARGEST TAX INCREASES

County officials noted that, ironically, many of the properties seeing the largest tax increases will be in St. Paul’s poorest neighborhoods — Frogtown, the North End, Payne Phalen and Dayton’s Bluff.

Ramsey County auditor and treasurer Chris Samuel said that was because those neighborhoods — which never fully recovered from the recession — are now seeing the largest property value increases in the city.

The suburbs of Maplewood, Mounds View and North St. Paul also would see larger increases.

The finding prompted board member Rafael Ortega to question whether staffers were tracking those increases in particular.

“Based on nobody jumping in … I think that answers your question,” county manager O’Connor said.

Samuel also talked in some detail about affordable housing.

He focused on home-ownership: how there are 51,325 households in the county making 30 percent of area medium income — or $30,000 — and only 1,685 houses they would be able to afford (by his calculations, worth $83,500 or less).

How, exactly, that would be addressed remained unclear.

Home construction in Minnesota is among the most expensive in the country outside coastal states, a 2017 Pioneer Press investigation determined — with developers hard-pressed to fit strict codes, fees and land prices into smaller builds.

Even building “affordable” homes can be comparatively pricey.

A new Habitat for Humanity project in St. Paul’s North End includes 11 new single-family homes, built for a cost of $270,000 per unit, not including another $900,000 in street infrastructure costs. That’s to house 11 families at 80 percent area media income, rather than 30 percent.

Samuels warned that the county’s on-going economic growth and corresponding increase in home valuations likely will widen the affordability gap.

The budget includes a significant $11 million jump — from $59 million to $70 million — in the county’s “administrative and general county purposes” costs, by far the biggest boost of any line item.

Included in that total is the county manager’s office, which is slated to get an additional 12.5 full-time employees — from 117 to 130 — in part to support the new initiatives, county chief financial officer Lee Mehrkens said.

The proposed budget also calls for:

Eliminating youth library fines across the county library system

Changing the fees for its golf courses to a more “dynamic” system depending on time of day; closing the Ponds at Battle Creek course; and making upgrades to the Manitou Ridge and Goodrich courses.

Installing more early voting locations and targeted pop-up locations for the 2020 election in order to boost voter turnout.

WORKSHOPS TO BE HELD ON BUDGET

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To mask or not to mask at MN polling places. Judge hears arguments. Throughout the month, the county will hold multiple budget workshops at St. Paul’s city hall, which are live streamed and open to the public. Check the county website for their schedule.

There are two public hearings slated, one at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 29 at city hall, and a second at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at the county library in Maplewood.

Tax estimations are slated to be sent to county households in November. The board needs to approve the budget by Dec. 11.