Brandt announces reelection bid for board of estimate

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Steve Brandt announced that he’s seeking a second term this year on the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation, the body that sets the city’s property tax cap annually and approves the city’s issuing of debt.
“I’m running because I believe that the principle that I promoted in my first campaign--balancing the needs of the city against the ability of property owners to pay – continues to serve the city well,” Brandt said.
In a second term he’d like to:
• Get creative on reducing the city’s dependence on property taxes to balance its budget;
• Promote city charter changes involving the board; and
• Mentor the board’s sole staffer who will be hired this year to research financial topics as directed by the board.
Brandt currently serves as board president. He was elected to the board in 2021 as the leading vote-getter in the election to fill the two seats on the board directly elected by the public.
Here’s what he’s worked on during his first three years on the board:
• Won commitments this year from Mayor Frey and Council President Payne to systematically investigate alternative taxes that the city could use to relieve the reliance on an ever-more burdensome property tax. He’s heard the complaints of those on fixed incomes, such as many seniors, and he’s open to a variety of ideas. Brandt thinks that the city needs to explore the feasibility of income-based taxation to avoid excessive future property tax increases. This could raise tens of millions of dollars, which should be devoted to property tax relief and to absorbing the cost of new spending. Brandt also favors a review of city spending, as many residents suggest, either by an outside blue-ribbon committee or by pursuing zero-based budgeting so that current spending is justified.
• Quizzed city finance officials persistently when they present quarterly finance reports or levy requests to the Board. “I ask more questions than any other board member and perhaps as many as all other members combined. It’s a habit that I learned as a reporter – be relentless in getting the facts,” Brandt said.
• Supported the reactivation of a public housing levy that will provide money to renovate public housing units that the federal government has neglected through inadequate funding. This also will create small clusters of new units for qualified applicants.
• Supported efforts to open up the BET to the public. Each meeting agenda now has a time for the public to weigh in on topics in that meeting’s agenda, something previously allowed only at the annual levy hearing. Meetings now are webcast live and also are archived on YouTube.
• Led an effort to save money on city borrowing in the face of the Fed’s planned interest rate increases in 2022 and 2023. Some city projects like utility work are funded year after year by a combination of borrowing and cash from sewer and water bills. His proposal would have moved some ‘out year’ borrowing ahead a year to beat interest rate increases, shifting an equivalent amount of cash to the ‘out year’ to compensate. That’s complicated, and would have required city council action, but would have saved the city substantially. It fell one vote short of winning board approval.
• Promoted two proposed City Charter amendments. One would give BET a seventh member to replace the one lost when the Library Board was abolished in 2009. BET now the only elected body in Minneapolis that lacks an odd number of members to break ties. Brandt proposed that the number of members elected by voters increase from two to three, maintaining the current tripartite split in which neither City Hall, the Park Board or directly elected public representatives hold a majority of seats. The companion charter proposal would change the board’s name to the Board of Debt and Taxes, which more accurately reflects its duties.
• Led an effort that will restore the BET’s sole staffer, its executive secretary, as provided for in the charter. The board employed a full-time staffer for almost a century until 2019, when the 38-year incumbent retired. Those serving then on the board tried to employ a highly qualified finance professional at half time pay and no benefits. Not surprisingly, neither person hired stayed long. This destroyed the Board’s institutional memory, which is vital with a rotating group of elected officials moving onto and off of the Board. This staffing is vital if the Board is to fulfill its role of giving city finances an independent look separate from a mayor and his or her finance department. Brandt’s initiative authorized a full-time staffer.
Brandt is seeking DFL endorsement for his reelection bid. He is a 48-year resident of the Kingfield neighborhood, and a retired Star Tribune reporter who spent most of his 40 years there focused on Minneapolis issues. He leads habitat restoration crews at Coldwater Spring, serves on the District 62 DFL central committee, is on the Great Northern Greenway Coalition board, and served on CLIC, the city’s capital budgeting task force, for five years.
“My decision to run again for a four-year term was not taken lightly,” he said. “I did some soul-searching, weighing the demands of the job against personal considerations. But I know city finances well, maintain a balanced approach to property taxes, I’m committed to the Board’s role as an independent watchdog for city finances, and I’m eager and able to serve.”

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