St. Paul won't change rent control ordinance this year
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St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter addresses the press before a vote on the budget. Photo: Kyle Stokes/Axios
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter had hoped the city budget that passed Wednesday would come with an exemption for all new housing from the city's rent control ordinance. It did not.
Why it matters: New housing construction in St. Paul has dropped off sharply in recent years. The mayor proposed the change in the hope of luring skeptical developers back.
- It's not clear whether rent control is responsible for St. Paul's building slowdown, especially with construction costs and interest rates still high.
Catch up quick: In August, Carter unveiled his proposal to permanently exempt any housing built in 2005 or later from the city's 3% cap on annual rent increases.
- He asked city council members to take up the change during its year-end budget-writing process in tandem with a new tenant rights ordinance.
The latest: A broader fight over the city budget between the mayor and council appears to have delayed the mayor's proposal for now.
- "It might have been ambitious" to push to pass it this year, Carter told Axios. He said he's had fruitful conversations with council members and hopes they take up the issue early next year.
- "We can't drag it on forever, because it's an urgent conversation, but it does feel like the conversation is progressing thoughtfully."
State of play: Even in a tight budget year, the council and mayor did agree to spend $100,000 on an evaluation of the city's housing policies.
- Council members believe the evaluation ought to come before any action on rent control, Council President Mitra Jalali told Axios.
- "There's an understanding among [city council] members that this is an issue we need to take up," Jalali said. "There's also a consensus that we need a clear data set."
Friction point: Several council members have been lukewarm to Carter's rent control amendment from the beginning.
- Defenders say the ordinance, which voters enacted in a 2021 referendum, is a crucial protection for renters as rent prices in the city continue to edge upward.
By the numbers: Through October, federal data shows St. Paul issued building permits for 245 units of housing this year — down from nearly 1,200 over the same period last year.
Reality check: The same federal data shows housing construction has slowed by similar rates in Minneapolis, which has no rent control ordinance. Metro-wide construction has slowed, too.