Washington County: Voters pass local-option sales taxes in Stillwater and Woodbury, Cox wins District 3 county board seat

Residents in Oakdale, Stillwater and Woodbury on Tuesday voted to levy local sales taxes or extend an existing one to pay for municipal projects ranging from parks to public safety improvements, but voters in Cottage Grove were not supportive of their city's request.

City officials support enacting a local-option sales tax as a way to capture dollars spent by out-of-towners to help pay for needed improvements within the city limits. Each ballot question needed a majority of votes to prevail.

Cottage Grove

Voters in Cottage Grove made it clear on Tuesday that they did not want the city to levy a 0.5% sales tax to help fund $36 million in improvements to Mississippi Dunes Reserve, Hamlet Park and the River Oaks Golf Course. The sales tax would have generated about $1.2 million a year.

Each of the three projects was a separate question on the ballot, and all three failed.

Sixty percent of voters voted "No" on Question 1, which covered a potential $17 million in improvements to Hamlet Park. Fifty-nine percent of voters voted "No" on Question 2, which covered a potential $13 million in improvements at Mississippi Dunes Park. Seventy-two percent of voters voted "No" on Question 3, which covered a potential $6 million in improvements at River Oaks Golf Course and Event Center.

Voters in Oakdale on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved measures related to the city's local-option sales tax.

Two years ago, voters approved a 0.5% local sales tax to fund a $15 million expansion and renovation of the city's police station and a new $22 million public works facility. The sales tax was implemented on April 1, 2023, and will remain in place until 2048 or until the funds have been collected, whichever is sooner.

But because construction costs have risen due to inflation, city officials went back to voters on Tuesday and asked them to vote on two questions related to extending the sunset date by five years – from 2048 to 2053 – to raise an additional $9 million to close the funding gap.

The first question on the ballot, which covered the $3 million that would be raised to cover the funding gap for the work at the police station, passed with 68% voting yes. The second question covered the $6 million that would be raised to cover the funding gap for the new public works facility; it passed with 71% voting yes.

Since both were approved, the total funds raised will increase from $37 million to $46 million.

Voters in Stillwater supported a 0.5% sales tax on general purchases to pay for improvements at parks along the St. Croix River with a vote of 63%. The sales tax is expected to raise up to $6.2 million over a 10-year period starting next year, city officials said.

The tax will sunset once funds required for the projects are collected, or in 10 years, whichever occurs first.

The sales tax will help pay for projects along the city's riverfront including renovation of the Aiple house and construction of a parking lot at Lumberjack Landing Park, a new park north of downtown Stillwater; picnic shelter, turf, irrigation and signage at Bridgeview Park; a new park south of downtown Stillwater; and riverbank stabilization.

Woodbury voters supported a 0.5% sales tax for up to 20 years to raise $50 million for the construction of an expanded public safety campus for EMS, police and fire services. The measure passed with 54% voting in favor.

City officials have already approved the renovation plans, which include a makeover of the city's current Public Safety Building, which was built in 1975, and the purchase of the nearby Washington County Service Center, built in 1986, to make room for a new fire station.

The campus expansion has already been approved, so a "no" vote would mean Woodbury officials "would need to fund renovation and construction of Woodbury's Public Safety Campus from other tax sources," according to city officials.

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Washington County Board

Stillwater resident Bethany Cox, director of development at the Wild Rivers Conservancy, defeated state Rep. Mark Wiens, R-Lake Elmo, in the race for the Washington County commissioner District 3 seat. Cox won with 51% of the vote.

Commissioner Fran Miron ran unopposed for the District 1 seat.