City boosters looking to expand Downtown Improvement District
Tim Spitzack
Editor
St. Paul Downtown Alliance is looking to expand its Downtown Improvement District to cover all of downtown and will seek St. Paul City Council approval in July. The district, which launched in 2021 mainly from Cedar Street to Kellogg Boulevard, supports enhanced services such as safety and security, outreach and wellness checks, graffiti and trash removal, and more, and is currently funded through a self-imposed fee to commercial property owners. The Alliance wants to expand the district to serve all of downtown – from the Xcel Energy Center to CHS Field, the Mississippi River to I-94 – and include both commercial and residential properties as a funding source. Last year the state law regarding Special Service Districts was amended to allow for residential condos and multi-family properties to participate. The Alliance has received the required support of 25% of the property owners in the district to advance the petition to the city council.
The funds collected from the expanded district would be used for additional safety ambassadors, bike patrols and more skyway coverage by safety ambassadors, and in 2025 to work with the City of St. Paul to hire a city attorney exclusively dedicated to pursuing chronic offenders affecting quality-of-life issues downtown.
If approved, property owners will see the charge on their 2025 property tax statement. The charge is renewed annually. The assessment rates for 2025 are:
Commercial properties – $0.0639 per square foot of the gross building area and $13.61 per foot of linear front footage.
Residential properties – $0.03834 per square foot of the gross building area and $8.17 per foot of linear front footage (prorated per condo unit within a building). The average cost for condo owners is $65.50 a year.
For more information, visit spdid.org/faqs.