Frequently Asked Questions

  • As the Brooklyn Center community evolves, the City recognizes the importance of making investments in public services and amenities. The community center was built more than 50 years ago and no longer serves the needs of our residents or visitors. Additionally, after heavy use throughout the years, it requires major repairs and updates to better serve residents of all ages.

  • After more than 50 years of service, the community center lacks sufficient space and amenities to host desired fitness, health and community-focused programming or adequate event space for the community to use. Additionally, there are no gyms or sports areas, walking spaces, or much-needed teen and young adult hang-out and educational spaces.

    For more information, visit our Challenges page.

  • The proposed plan would support the renovation and expansion of the community center to provide additional meeting space, fitness and recreation offerings, and amenities for Brooklyn Center residents of all ages. It would also address aging infrastructure and critical repairs for systems throughout the facility.

    For more detailed information on the Our Center Our Future plan, visit our Plan page.

  • Brooklyn Center residents have expressed concern that the city does not currently have safe places for teenagers to build community and stay out of trouble. Teen centers and programming play a crucial role in supporting the healthy development of teenagers by providing them with opportunities for growth, learning, and positive social interaction. The proposed new teen center would have programming like youth entrepreneurship, homework help and health education. The foundation of our community is our youth, and now more than ever our teenagers need someplace safe and welcoming to relax and be with their friends.

    For details on the other part of the plan, visit our Plan page.

  • Research strongly indicates that teen centers and teen support programs have a significant and positive impact on communities. These efforts promote positive youth development through constructive activities, fostering positive relationships and providing essential support to help teens develop into healthy and productive adults. 

    As proposed, the Brooklyn Center Community Center project would serve as a catalyst for such engagement. Here are some potential outcomes: 

    1. Improved Health and Well-Being: Community-based youth programs offer a safe space for teens, promote physical and mental health and provide support systems that might be lacking at home​ (this is supported by research done by the NIH and CDC)​. 

    1. Academic and Social Benefits: Participation in afterschool and teen center programs is associated with better academic performance, increased school attendance and higher graduation rates. Teen programs also help young people develop social skills, build self-esteem and foster a sense of community belonging​ (Youth.gov). 

    1. Civic Engagement and Leadership: Teen programs that emphasize youth activism and community organizing empower young people to become active participants in their communities. This involvement not only benefits the community, but also helps young people develop important life skills, such as leadership, teamwork and problem-solving​ (California Center for Civic Participation). 

    1. Reduced Youth Violence and Crime: Teen programs have been successful in engaging at-risk youth, reducing youth violence and fostering community change (CDC).

  • Yes. Brooklyn Center residents played a major role in shaping this investment plan. Over the past few years, the City conducted an extensive assessment of the community center’s condition and engaged residents and users of the center about their top priorities for improving the facility. This included pop-up community engagement events, community surveys, emails to residents and local organizations, social media interactions with residents and focus group discussions. For more details, visit our Process page.

  • Please use the Connect Form to provide any ideas or feedback or to submit questions.

  • The Brooklyn Center Community Center was built 53 years ago, and the programs and usage have been steadily rising over the years. For example, more than 1,680 annual memberships were purchased through mid-July this year. At this rate, the community center is well on its way to exceed the 1,853 memberships that were purchased in all of 2023 

    The community summer camps, programming and sports have also been growing. 

    • Summer camps hosted at the community center have been at capacity for the last three years with 50 kids enrolled each week. With additional space, the camps could be expanded to include those on the wait list, which consistently has at least 10 kids per week.  

    • Recreation programing grew from 483 participants in 2022 to 762 participants in 2023. 

    • Youth sports programing grew from 448 participants in 2022 to 781 participants in 2023. 

    The demand for space, programming and amenities has been evident through conversations with residents and increased facility usage in recent years. If approved by voters this November, the community center renovation and expansion project would enable the City to provide additional amenities and resources, allowing the community center to better support Brooklyn Center residents. 

  • The plan to invest in the community center was developed based on resident feedback and facility assessments. The plan included proposed upgrades and new features for the community center to better meet community and regional needs. The plan aimed to add new spaces like meeting rooms, indoor walking tracks and gyms to benefit people of all ages. It also focused on fixing delayed maintenance issues at the current facility. 

    In 2023, the City asked the Minnesota Legislature for $15 million in state bonding funds. The City also sought permission to put a half-percent sales tax on the ballot for voters to decide.  

    State lawmakers agreed that the project met their standards for regional impact and authorized the city to propose the local sales tax to voters. If approved by voters this November, the tax would raise up to $44 million for the project. Additionally, the legislature approved $5.1 million of the requested $15 million in state bonding funds to use towards the community center project.  

    With a smaller overall budget, the plan was revised to ensure it remained fiscally responsible while still providing the most important programs and amenities for Brooklyn Center residents and the wider region. This proposed investment plan you see today, Our Center Our Future, achieves many of the priorities brought to the City by the community, addresses critical structural improvements in the existing building and provides updates to existing spaces. It also expands the current building amenities. For example, an indoor play area was added to the plan to provide year-round family recreation. 

About the Our Center Our Future plan

About the cost and tax impact

  • Brooklyn Center is proposing a $49.1 million investment to expand and enhance the City’s community center. The Minnesota Legislature authorized the City to seek voter approval to use a local half-percent sales tax to collect up to $44 million to finance the plan. In 2023, the Legislature also committed $5.1 million in state bonds to support this project, if matched by local funding.

    Core plan ($37.5 million): This investment includes new courts for pickleball, volleyball and basketball, an indoor walking and jogging track, an indoor playground for children, designated areas for teenagers, updated bathrooms and locker rooms and numerous repairs and infrastructure upgrades.

    The core plan would be funded through two sources:

    • Local half-percent sales tax: If approved in November, the local half-percent sales tax would be used to collect $32.4 million, spread over a 20-year period.

    • State bonding funds: The Minnesota Legislature approved $5.1 million in bonding funds to assist with pre-design and construction costs for the project. These funds require a 1-to-1 match to be utilized. Collections from the local sales tax, if approved, would qualify as the match.

    Enhancements ($11.6 million): The City will continue to use collections from the sales tax, up to the total authorized by the Legislature, and other funding sources to upgrade and repair other parts of the building, including the swimming pool area, fitness room and the roof.

    For more information on the financing and tax impact, visit our Cost page.

  • The City Council concluded that a local half-percent sales tax was the best funding option because it spreads the project’s costs among residents and non-residents who make purchases in the city and utilize local amenities such as the community center. Brooklyn Center visitors would pay 41% of sales taxes collected in the city while residents would pay 59%, according to a study by the University of Minnesota Extension Center.

    If the project was funded by a property tax increase, the cost burden would fall solely on Brooklyn Center homeowners and those who own commercial property in the city.

    Using the sales tax option, each Brooklyn Center resident would pay an additional $3.14 per month on average, or $37.68 per year, in sales tax contributions, according to a University of Minnesota study. In contrast, a property tax increase to pay for just the core plan portion would be $17.70 per month, or $212.50 per year, for an average value home of $264,800.

    In fact, almost half of the core plan, $18.4 million, would be provided by state bond funding that has already been approved and nonresidents who would pay the local sales tax.

    For more on why a sales tax, visit our Cost page.

  • The local sales tax would add one cent for every two dollars spent in Brooklyn Center, or five cents for every $10 purchase. Each Brooklyn Center resident would pay an average of $3.14 per month, or $37.68 per year, using the local sales tax to support the core plan, according to a study by the University of Minnesota.

    Here’s how that looks with actual purchases:

    • Dinnerware set (priced at $49.99) –local sales tax would be 24 cents.

    • Comforter/blanket (priced at $89.99) –local sales tax would be 45 cents.

    • Set of four dining charges (priced at $398) – local sales tax would be $1.99.

    For more on the financing of the plan and tax impact, visit our Cost page.

  • A local half-percent sales tax is applied the same way as the state sales tax. Many essential goods are exempt, including the purchase of groceries, clothing, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, feminine hygiene products and baby products. For more information, view this list of most nontaxable items from the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

  • Over the past five years, dozens of cities and counties have adopted local option sales taxes to help pay for a variety of major public projects that benefit the community, including new community centers, libraries, parks and trails, and other public amenities.

    In recent years, several metro area cities have approved a local sales tax, including Saint Peter (new fire station), Edina (parks and recreation improvements), Rogers (trail and pedestrian projects and aquatics), West St. Paul (road projects), and Maple Grove (community center).

  • No. If approved, the local sales tax will be in place for up to 20 years or until its funding obligations are fulfilled, whichever comes first. For it to be renewed or used for another purpose, the State Legislature and Brooklyn Center voters would need to approve its extension.

  • Much like a family that uses a mortgage to purchase a house, the city will use bonds to finance the project and pay both principal and interest each month. More importantly, Brooklyn Center residents will start to benefit from the investment over the next two to three years, instead of many years down the road.

    For more about the investment plan, visit our Cost page.

  • The Brooklyn Center Community Center, like most other municipally owned community centers, is currently funded by both membership/community revenues and local tax dollars. As part of the concept design process, the City calculated how both revenue and expenses are projected to change if the Community Center were expanded, and the current projections indicate that the portion of expenses currently funded through tax dollars would decrease by roughly $100,000 a year.

  • Many businesses are required by law to collect state and local sales taxes from online purchases. The products and services that are taxed are the same as those taxed for in-store purchases. In other words, the local sales tax would be applied when the state sales tax is.

    However, there is one important way that the laws governing e-commerce are different than those governing in-person shopping. According to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, when you pick up a product at a seller's location, the sales tax is based on that location. So, if you went to a store in Brooklyn Center to pick up the item, you would pay Brooklyn Center's sales tax.  If the product is shipped to you, the tax is based on the delivery address.

    For a full list of taxable and non-taxable items, visit the Department of Revenue’s website.

  • Project team members are working with engineers, architects and other experts to identify the full scope and costs associated with each item of the proposed plan. The detailed level of design and engineering required to identify a precise cost breakdown will be completed if/when the primary funding source is secured. The City will continue to inform residents as those details are finalized. 

About voting

  • Residents can vote early in person or at home by requesting an absentee ballot beginning Friday, Sept. 20. Residents can also vote at their local polling place as part of the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

    For more information on how to cast your ballot, visit our Vote page.

  • If the sales tax is not approved, City leadership will reevaluate improvement options and different funding scenarios. Such improvements, however, would likely be more incremental, modest in scale and take more years to implement. Further, the City would have to balance other capital projects with the community center’s needs.

    Additionally, without a local funding source, the City would not be able to utilize the $5.1 million in state bonding funds that have been allocated to this project as they require a local match to use.

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