The St. Paul City Council voted to reduce Mayor Melvin Carter’s proposed property tax increase from 7.9% to 5.9%, resulting in a $4 million reduction in the mayor’s overall $855 million 2025 budget proposal.

St. Paul City Council President Mitra Jalali said cutting $1 million in overtime for St. Paul Police is part of the package and mentioned it was a historic move.

“There is a history that we learned of SPPD over-spending budget, and we have a responsibility as a council to not only put the brakes on that, but to also create a hiring plan and work with the administration to improve it so that we can actually staff up and not have the same officers running repeat shifts and running around and running up those costs,” said Jalali.

On the other hand, the city council and mayor will add seven new firefighters and for the first time in decades and, according to Kyle Thornberg of the St. Paul Firefighters Union, the city will fully staff a new engine company on the city’s East Side.

“We are experiencing a surge in 911 call volume. We haven’t added a new engine company since 1958. So, bringing back Engine 7 to the East side is monumental for us,” said Thornberg.

After the vote, Mayor Carter issued the following statement:  “The council action saves median homeowners $19 per year by cutting millions in police staffing and other city services without a plan, reducing funding for streets and sidewalks, and eliminating two total positions — director of Human Rights and police property room clerk — while adding two new titles to the City Council’s staff. We are reviewing this document, which the city’s Office of Financial Services received late last night and have yet to perform our standard due diligence on, and will determine next steps in the coming days.”