Voters have say on big projects in Chanhassen and other cities

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A proposed $79.7 million community center could be under construction in Chanhassen as early as next year, but before shovels start, city residents must authorize a local sales tax to cover about half the cost of the project.

The Nov. 5 approval of a half-cent sales tax increase to raise $40 million for the Chanhassen Bluffs Community Center, which would replace an aging and undersized building dating from 1995, will be approved. Chanhassen’s population has since doubled and the existing Chanhassen Recreation Center center “no longer meets the needs of the community,” according to the city.

In addition to the sales tax, the proposed 300,000-square-foot community center would be financed through sources including residential property taxes, the sale of the existing recreation center, naming rights, sponsorships and property taxes generated by the purpose-built development. mixed Avienda in the city.

Located at the intersection of Highway 212 and Powers Boulevard, the center would house a walking path, two ice sheets, a 3,500-seat skating rink/multipurpose hall, a playground with courts and grass, a playground indoor, a dance studio, a fitness center. studio, community room and restaurant.

Patrick Gavin, Chanhassen’s communications manager, said the community center plan relied on extensive public input and a process that included a 2016 study of the city’s parks and recreational facilities.

“The feedback we have received, as well as that of the city council and the various mayors, is that there is a desire for a recreation center that keeps pace with Chanhassen’s growth and adapts to the growing demands and needs » of the city. , Gavin said.

Gavin said the city is working with BKV Group and Kraus-Anderson on design and construction planning.

The Chanhassen Bluffs Community Center isn’t the only project that will have voter support in November. In total, Minnesota residents will consider local sales and use taxes to fund projects ranging from recreation centers to public safety facilities.

Other local sales tax projects up for voter approval run the gamut, from a $5 million plan to alleviate flooding in Windom to a $325 million justice center project in Stearns County, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.

As Finance & Commerce previously reported, Roseville is seeking $64 million for new public works and parks and $12.7 million for a license and passport center, while Richfield voters will decide on an $80 million plan that includes a $45 million plan for a community center. $26 million for a Woodlake Nature Center facility and $9 million for Veterans Park pool improvements.

In Fairmont, voters will consider a local sales tax option to raise $20 million to build a new skating rink connected to a future community center, but a lawsuit filed by a group opposed to the project complicates plans.

In 2016, Fairmont voters approved a local sales tax option to generate $15 million for a new community center, the first phase of a project that would eventually include an ice skating rink. But a lawsuit filed by the Fairmont Taxpayers Coalition for Government Transparency delayed the project, and the community center still hasn’t been built.

In the lawsuit against the city, the taxpayers’ group alleges that the language used in the 2016 referendum was “flawed,” according to local media. A judge dismissed the suit in March, but the taxpayers’ group appealed.

The sales tax approved in 2016 has generated $6.7 million so far, the city said, adding that it has set that money aside for the community center construction fund. The architect/design portions of the project were paid for by the fund, the city said.

If voters approve the ice rink sales tax on Nov. 5, the tax will remain in effect for 25 years or until it generates $20 million “plus an amount equal to interest and costs associated with the tax.” issuance of bonds to finance construction,” according to the release. says the city.

Matt Skaret, Fairmont’s city administrator, said the lawsuit “is working its way through the courts and working in the city’s favor so far.” If the courts rule in favor of the city, he said, construction could begin in 2025.

The community center and ice rink could be built as one project with funding from two different sales tax sources, Skaret said. The combined cost of the project from all funding sources is about $50 million, he said.

In at least two cases, construction is complete or nearly complete and the local jurisdiction is asking voters how to pay the bill.

Specifically, ballots in Rice County will include a proposed 0.375 percent sales tax to fund a largely completed $48 million public safety center in Faribault. The project includes a 76-bed jail, the county’s emergency operations center, offices and more.

Rice County authorized the sale of $48.86 million in bonds to finance construction of the 83,000-square-foot facility, according to a news release. The county is currently using existing sources, primarily property tax money, to pay down its debt.

Similarly, Winona County is tapping property tax funds to finance a new $28 million detention center, which opened in December 2023. An alternative funding source, a local sales tax, will appear on the November 5 ballot papers.

The quarter-cent local sales tax would be in effect for 25 years or “until sufficient revenue has been collected to repay the bonds,” according to the county.

RELATED: Richfield could ask voters for big investments in parks and recreation