House tax committee weighs bill to rescind Rochester sports complex funding

In 2023, Rochester voters approved a half-cent local sales tax extension designed to raise $205 million that would go toward an economic development fund, street reconstruction, flood control and water quality. But the largest amount, $65 million, would go toward a regional sports and recreation complex.

After its approval, the city commissioned a study to hash out details of the sports complex plan. And the price tag almost doubled, coming in at $120 million.

Reasons cited for the increase included previously underestimating the cost of land acquisition and inflation. The Rochester City Council voted to scrap the indoor recreation component of the project and focus on outdoor fields and courts, overriding a mayoral veto to put that measure in place.

Rep. Kim Hicks (DFL-Rochester) campaigned for the sales tax increase in 2023, but now wants the funding eliminated. That’s why she’s sponsoring HF4194, which would mandate that Rochester not collect funds for the sports and recreation complex after June 30, 2026.

The bill would instead channel funds generated by the tax chiefly toward financing the other elements in the referendum, lower the amount of bond issuance allowed from $205 million to $140 million, and reduce the maximum number of years the city can collect the tax from 24 to 20.

On Wednesday, the House Taxes Committee laid the bill over for possible omnibus bill inclusion.

“They said that there would be substantial community engagement,” Hicks said. “I have been working to try to facilitate and encourage that engagement since that vote in 2023, and I have been unsuccessful.”

“We are building as much as we can with the dollars that were authorized in 2023,” said Randy Schubring, president of the Rochester City Council. “We are working within the constraints of the approved legislation. … We ask that the tax committee not set a precedent of overturning local election results.”

“Voters were shown a four-season recreation complex,” said Kamau Wilkins, owner and operator of the Minnesota South chapter of the Youth Enrichment League. “They were sold a vision, and they voted for that vision. But somewhere between the ballot box and the bulldozer, the promise disappeared. … We voted for that indoor facility, space that working families could use 12 months of the year.”

Rep. Andy Smith (DFL-Rochester) believes the bill could set an important precedent.

“Can these cities and counties come before us and, whether purposefully or not, mislead us on what these projects are going to be?” he asked. “More importantly, can they go back to their people and mislead them as to what they’re going to pay for when they vote for whether they want these sales taxes in their communities?”