Minneapolis City Council moves forward on carbon fee in override of mayoral veto
The Minneapolis City Council voted Thursday to move ahead with establishing a fee for the city's biggest carbon dioxide emitters, overriding Mayor Jacob Frey's veto . But council members agreed to move the fee date back several months to give the city time to address concerns with the policy.
The policy will require polluters to pay a fee per pound of carbon dioxide emitted starting in 2025. City council members supporting the policy say it will deter pollution and help combat climate change.
Frey says he agrees with that goal, but cited legal concerns in his veto. Frey and the City Attorney say the city could face legal issues with setting a fee before creating the regulatory program to enforce it.
"Every member of this body cares deeply about climate change," Frey told the council Thursday. "Our only ask is to do it in an order that ends up being durable, that withstands legal critique, and there is every ability for this body to do exactly that."
City attorney Kristyn Anderson said laws require city fees to cover only the cost of the regulatory programs that enforce them; fees can't generate city revenue. Since no program exists yet for carbon fees and council members don't know exactly how much that program would cost, she said, setting a fee now is "putting the cart before the horse."
The council overrode the mayor's veto with a 9-2 vote – but took steps that council members said will mitigate the legal risk.
In an amendment to the policy proposed by Council member Robin Wonsley, the council pushed the enforcement date of the fee back from Jan. 1 to July 1, 2025. Wonsley said this will give the city time to set up the program.
Council members also requested a study to determine how much the regulatory program will cost. The council anticipates getting that information before July 1 when the fees go into effect. Council members said they will adjust the fee amount based on the results of that study ahead of the deadline.
For now, the council elected to set the fee amount at $452 per pound of carbon dioxide emitted, based on their preliminary information.
"Should [staff] do additional evaluation that shows that we need to change something, we can do that in May," Wonsley said.
Council member Katie Cashman proposed an amendment to change the temporary dollar amount to "TBD." The motion was voted down.
Council president Elliot Payne said he wanted to keep momentum on the issue and assign a dollar amount.
"I do believe it's really important for this council to take a stance on climate action and to quantify this," Payne said. "We have to keep the pressure on, we have to keep moving this process forward and we need to quantify this."
Frey voiced his support for that failed measure at the meeting. In a statement following the council's action, Frey's office said the changes to the policy were welcome, but critiqued the council's decision to override his veto.
"The override of the mayor's veto was purely performative," said a spokesperson for Frey's office. "Following the veto, the Council immediately had to clean up the mess that they made."
Wonsley, the author of the policy, said in a statement that it was urgent to move the policy forward.
"Climate change is an emergency," Wonsley said. "Since 2021, Minneapolis residents have organized to demand that council pass a fee on carbon emissions, a major contributor to climate change. I'm proud that the council took action."
