Geoff Hankerson

Last night I attended Mayor Coleman's community meeting on the 43.8 million dollar 2 year budget shortfall for the City of St. Paul. Much of the shortfall is due to deep cuts in local government aid from the state of Minnesota.

The city's total budget in 2008 was about $200 million. The big ticket items for the city are Fire, Police, Libraries, Parks and Rec centers in that order. (I'll update with exact numbers in the next day or so).

Mayor Coleman emphasized the need to keep the Fire department at current levels because cuts there will impact the ability for fire truck or ambulance to arrive soon enough to save lives. Hard to argue with that.

Now the library in our neighborhood is on the chop block. This library is particularly important to me, my family and my neighborhood. The last time I went to the library was yesterday. My two sons always have good books to read because we have a neighborhood. My sixth grader reads at an 8th or 9th grade level in part because there is a library close by that he visits weekly. My 5 year old son is starting to learn to read before kindergarten in part because he goes to the library weekly and has his parents read to him daily. I have two nieces in the neighborhood that have had similar experiences with the neighborhood library.

Our neighborhood is known for its community projects, friendliness, and for having people in other cities wanting to move in! One of the things that makes our neighborhood great is the ability to walk to the library and greet several neighbors on the way. This even increases neighborhood safety.

What I am trying to say is we get a lot of value out of the services the cities provides. I asked Mayor Coleman what it would take to per household to makeup the shortfall. I was surprised he didn't know. There are 191,000 households in St. Paul. Over 2 years the cost per household is $230 or about $9.55 per month. I get more value that $9.55 in one week out of the library, not to mention parks, police and fire.

Mayor Coleman did not seem to be favorable to a modest tax increase. Look I know everyone hates taxes, but the truth is taxes pay for services that make our communities a better place to live. Taxes are a mechanism for us to collectively do things we could not do as a smaller group. Sure we need to make some smart cuts, become more efficient, and reduce duplication in local government . All of this needs to be on the table. But let's recognize that many services are worth paying for.

I challenge Mayor Coleman to come up with a plan that includes some cuts and some very modest tax increases and let the citizens of St. Paul decide if keeping Fire, Police, Libraries, Parks and Rec Centers at current levels is worth paying for.

I think they are worth paying for. I do not want to live in a city where inadequate library, police, fire and park services. Maybe a majority of my St. Paul neighbors agree that $9.55 per month is worth paying to maintain these services; maybe a majority does not. I think we should have the right to decide.

I encourage you to contact Mayor Coleman at (651)266-8510, or by sending mail to: Office of the Mayor, 390 City Hall, 15 Kellogg Boulevard West, Saint Paul, MN 55102 and demand the opportunity to let the citizens of St. Paul to make this decision.