St. Cloud Delays Final Vote on Road Project Assessments After Business Owner Pushback

Saint Cloud, MN, USA / KNSI

Mar 10, 2026 | 4:00 AM

MnDOT

(KNSI) – After getting an earful from business owners, the St. Cloud City Council postponed approving final assessments for $12.9 million in road projects completed in 2025.

Of that, $3.6 million is the responsibility of property owners in the work zone. Construction included eight miles of resurfacing around the city, road and sewer work in the Pantown Neighborhood, and a road reconstruction on Lincoln Avenue.

Six small business owners along Lincoln Avenue spoke at the meeting, and another 11 residents sent letters opposed to what they called excessive assessments.

KNSI News caught up with Car Smart and Smart Signs owner David Koop, who said he’s facing a $49,900 assessment. “It absolutely kills me. In fact, what I would like to ask is for every one of the board members to work for free for an entire year, because not only are they assessing me that amount, but they also took me out of business for almost three months while the construction was going on.”

Other small business owners echoed those sentiments. Koop also argues that the work didn’t improve his property value anywhere close to what the city claims. “After talking to realtors, they’re telling me that my property’s worth no more today than it was before that street. So as far as Minnesota statute’s concerned, they should not be able to assess me. They have to prove that there’s a valuable benefit, and they can’t assess you for more than that.”

In the end, the council voted unanimously to ask city staff to take another look at the numbers. Council President Mike Conway said it’s the right thing to do. “We did postpone those so that the people that spoke tonight and the administration get a chance to come to some agreement, some understanding and be able to have time to work through those differences.”

The council will revisit the assessments during its March 23rd meeting.

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