Construction signs and no-parking notices are at the ready around George Floyd Square.
The $15 million reconstruction of the square starts Monday, shortly after the sixth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
The project will reopen streets, while keeping the memorial area closed to traffic.
But some neighbors are feeling sticker shock.
“This tax assessment of $636,000 is going to harm our neighborhood and harm the local businesses,” resident Julia Johnson told a Minneapolis City Council committee this week. “It’s probably going to make my rent go up. It’s going to cause people to be displaced; to be disconnected from the beautiful community that’s been built.”
It turns out that property owners near the square are being required to pay part of the bill for new area streets and infrastructure through special assessments.
According to the Minneapolis city website, “state law and city ordinance allow assessments when a property benefits from a capital improvement… without assessments, the city would either raise other revenue like property taxes or be unable to fund the amount of capital improvements needed to replace deteriorating infrastructure. You are assessed because a portion of your property is within the project influence area.”
With special assessments, the cost is based on a property’s square footage.
Bridgette Stewart, a spokesperson for the violence-prevention nonprofit Minnesota Agape Movement, says she was shocked when the group received a special assessment notification about two weeks ago for $60,000.
“I laughed. I said, they’ve got to be kidding me,” she recalled. “Everything that this community has been forced to deal with, from emotional distress, physical distress, mental distress, and now you’re asking us to take on a financial burden.”
A city spokesperson says right now, a total of 84 properties are being assessed.
Property owners may pay their portion of the assessment in a single payment before Nov. 5, 2027, or over the 20-year period starting in 2028.
The city offers a deferral option for homestead properties owned by individuals who are 65 years of age or older, or who are retired due to a permanent and total disability.
Toya Carter, who lives near the square, says she hasn’t received a special assessment.
“I feel everyone should be able to do their fair share of helping keep the community together,” she notes.
But housing advocacy groups say they feel blindsided — that in talks with the city, they were left with the impression that the cost of the reconstruction would be shared by all city residents.
“It was a well-understood concept that what happened in the intersection at 38th and Chicago of George Floyd Square was relevant to the entire city,” says Lane Brown, Co-Executive Director of the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization, or CANDO. “Our neighbors were under the impression that this was a cost that would be carried by the entire city, not just a couple of residents.”
Agape is also being considered for redeveloping part of the square — but that decision hasn’t been made yet.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is getting word the city is looking at other funding options in lieu of the special assessments.
A vote by the Minneapolis City Council on that issue could take place as early as this Thursday.
A city spokesperson says, “the City recognizes the significance of 38th and Chicago and understands that this is not a typical street reconstruction project. Given the unique history and importance of the site, City staff are working collaboratively with council members to identify funding options that honor its significance and the impact on nearby property owners.”
