The St. Paul City Council appears to be on a collision course with the mayor’s office over spending.

After voicing near-unanimous concern bordering on outright opposition, the council voted Wednesday to support a maximum property tax levy increase of 11.5 percent.

The council can reduce the levy — the total amount of property taxes collected by the city in 2019 — by the time the final city budget is approved in December, but the levy cannot be increased.

Calling heavy investments in roads, parks, libraries and other public services overdue, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proposed an 11.5 percent tax levy during his budget address in August.

The council vote on Wednesday was six in favor, with Dan Bostrom opposed.

Before the vote, six of the seven members said they understood the mayor’s priorities but they nevertheless expressed strong reservations.

“I know how hard we are working to come up with an alternate proposal that brings the levy number down,” said Council President Amy Brendmoen, noting that higher-than-expected sales tax revenues and an expanded tax base could work in the city’s favor. Brendmoen called for a tax levy increase “potentially even under 10 percent.”

Others agreed. “I’m committing to working with the mayor and my colleagues to bring down the tax levy before we pass the budget in December,” said Jane Prince.

Added Bostrom, “To have an increase of over 11 percent … just seems to be higher than we really should go. … I cannot support this. I understand we can always go down, but I can’t.”

Rebecca Noecker said she doesn’t intend to vote in support of an 11 percent levy increase. However, Noecker also acknowledged she “did not have an alternate proposal to present.”

Noting that Frogtown residents are in line to bear some of the greatest percentage increases in property taxes, Dai Thao said he was “committed to working with my colleagues to bring this down.”

Chris Tolbert said: “There is a lot in this budget to like, but we also have to be considerate of taxpayer dollars.” Related Articles St. Paul City Council approves $600,000 charge for downtown improvement district

St. Paul rec center hours, aquatics, ice rinks face budget hit

St. Paul City Council debates halting charter school bond requests for six months

Betty McCollum raises questions about St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s guaranteed basic income project

St. Paul City Council relaxes housing density restrictions near transit corridors

Carter later issued a statement in response to the council’s vote: “From eliminating overdue library fines to rebuilding our streets, this budget proposes an exciting set of investments that advance the bold vision we’ve built for Saint Paul children and families. On behalf of the hundreds of residents who worked together to craft the values behind this proposal, I commend the City Council for their action today and look forward to our work together to move these critical investments toward final adoption.”

Also Wednesday, meeting as the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the council supported a maximum of a 17 percent increase to the HRA tax levy, which would grow to $4.46 million.

Meanwhile this week, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved a maximum property tax levy increase of 4.3 percent for 2019.