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City council members look to fill budget gaps by proposing a "user fee" for students in St. Paul.

Pull out your wallets, it’s time to pay the piper. Again. If your tuiton and books didn’t cause you to take a hammer to your piggy-bank, maybe St. Paul City Council member Jay Benanav’s new proposal to charge every college student in St. Paul $25 will. $25 isn’t likely to result in shards of pink porcelin for most, but many are questioning why Benanav is targeting students.

The proposal, initally discussed in the 2003 citywide budget meetings, is motivated by a lack of funding for services such as police, fire and snowplowing.

In the past, holes in the city’s budget have manifested themselves as increases in income tax and the number of meters on city streets. However, Benanav and his supporters claim that college students use city services, such as police and EMTs, that they don’t pay for since colleges are asessed for street maintainence, but do not pay actual taxes.
Students, however, see things differently. “Students who go to school in St. Paul also live and work in St. Paul,” said Dan Anderson, Student Government Association President at St. Thomas University. “They contribute to the community.”
Tim McDonald, Hamline student and president of the Minnesota Association of Private College Students (MAPCS), shared similar sentiments. “College tuition is at an unprecedented high and the response from government on all levels has been unacceptable,” he said.

On a fundamental level, the city needs money to continue providing public safety and other services. The 2006 budget was balanced by taking a dip into reserve funds and fund balances which will not be around in the future. “We just have come fresh from...a property tax levy that hit homeowners, rentors and businesses in the double digits this year,” Ward Two council representative Dave Thune posted on a local issues forum. “The overwhelming sentiment [was] that we can’t keep raising our property taxes at this rate.”
Money from Governor Pawlenty is more than unlikely, so the city is turning to students.

Though the outcry over increased taxation cannot be denied, the claims it makes are questionable. Compared to Minneapolis, property tax in St. Paul is a pittance.

According to the Dec. 13 Ramsey County Truth-in-Taxation hearing, St. Paul property taxes have increased at roughly half the rate of those in Minneapolis from 1997 to 2006, and are currently about 36.4 percent lower.

College students aren’t traditionally regarded as rich, which might be why many claim that this fee is a regressive tax.
However, supporters of Benanav’s proposal say that college students will end up earning more than those who do not pursue higher education and that this fee is therefore a progressive tax.

Many variations of the proposal are currently floating around City Hall. Some want students on campus to pay $50 while students who live off campus will not be charged at all. Others carry options for community service for students who are unable or unwilling to pay the fee.

Most supporters of the proposal claim that this fee will be a learning experience for students who will have to pay all kinds of taxes in the “real world.”

Don’t throw your piggy bank out of your 3rd floor dorm window just yet though; Benanav’s proposal is still just that, a proposal. The issue is still being debated and nothing is set in stone just yet. In fact, some student leaders are optimistic. “We don’t think the proposal has gone very far,” said Anderson. “Hopefully it never will.”