Star Tribune
Property owners could pay for $1 billion in upgrades after HCMC fight stalled tax change
Hennepin County leaders’ failure to convince the Legislature to repurpose the sales tax that built Target Field for health care infrastructure means property owners could have to pay for $1 billion in upgrades to HCMC.
That was the takeaway from a recent meeting between the County Board and Hennepin Healthcare Systems, which runs HCMC, to review the legislative session that ended in May. Commissioners admonished hospital leaders for breaking county lobbying rules and distracting from their legislative top priority by backing a last-minute bill to change how HCMC is governed.
“There was a billion on the table for Hennepin County,” said Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde, co-chair of the committee overseeing lobbying. “The fact is, money matters and we didn’t execute. I believe it is because we got sidetracked.”
The 0.15% sales tax costs consumers three cents on a $20 purchase and raises about $54 million a year. Under county officials’ proposal, up to $40 million of that money would help cover debt payments on a new in-patient building at HCMC and other infrastructure planned for the state’s largest safety-net hospital.
But instead of building support for that plan in the last days of session, Board Chair Irene Fernando said she was responding to questions from worried lawmakers about why the county and the health system it oversees appeared at odds.
Babette Apland, Hennepin Healthcare board chair, said doctors, patients and community members were upset by HCMC nurses’ push for the County Board to take back control of the hospital system. Commissioners haven’t taken a position on that request.
Nevertheless, those concerns led to a last-minute bill to make a governance change more difficult. Hospital officials publicly backed the bill despite the health system’s bylaws requiring the County Board to OK their lobbying efforts.
Hospital leaders thought the board was supportive of the proposal. “It was only in hindsight we understood the disconnect there,” Apland told commissioners.
A debate about governance
Nurses, EMTs and other unionized workers began raising questions about how HCMC is run last fall. They were upset by health insurance changes and said not enough was being done to retain staff and keep workers safe.
Hospital leaders pushed back on those claims and argued modest insurance changes were needed to help the struggling hospital close a $127 million budget gap.
In December, commissioners added new oversight to the hospital system’s $1.5 billion budget that led two members of the hospital board to resign. Commissioners also asked county staff to analyze hospital finances, worker benefits and governance.
In January, the hospital board approved another raise for CEO Jennifer DeCubellis despite a temporary prohibition on executive pay increases. DeCubellis said she wouldn’t accept the pay raise this year.
By April, nurses and workers, still frustrated, called for the County Board to retake control of the hospital system. Commissioners haven’t taken a public position on the request and have continued to gather data about hospital operations.
Some HCMC doctors publicly opposed the nurses’ demands, leading to a last-minute legislative proposal to make it harder for the county to take back control of the hospital system. Commissioners need a supermajority vote to dissolve the Hennepin Healthcare board, which the county created in 2007 to run HCMC and other clinics.
HCMC held at least one staff meeting where pictures of commissioners and the dates they are up for re-election were displayed. Some hospital workers said they were disturbed by the political tone of the meeting.
Next week, commissioners and hospital leaders will meet to review recommendations about hospital governance from county administration.
Plans for the ballpark tax
A top legislative priority this year for the County Board was improving residents’ access to health care. Converting the ballpark tax would provide up to $40 million in annual revenue to pay for hospital improvements.
It would also provide about $9 million a year for future improvements at Target Field and in exchange, the Twins would extend their lease through 2059. About $4 million from the tax would continue to fund youth activities and library operations.
The idea got bipartisan support in both chambers of the Legislature. But some key DFLers were not entirely on board, in part because they have reservations about giving more taxpayer money to sports stadiums.
The proposal was part of the end-of-session tax bill negotiations after county leaders offered to give half the health care revenue, roughly $20 million, to North Memorial Hospital. The Robbinsdale nonprofit hospital also serves as a safety net like HCMC and is struggling financially.
Sen. Ann Rest, the Senate Tax Committee chair, said she was “delighted” by the offer to include money for North Memorial, which is in her district. But Rep. Aisha Gomez, the House tax chair, didn’t hold a hearing on the bill after pushing for a moratorium on local sales taxes in 2023.
Republicans who backed the tax conversion were excited the Twins would commit to playing in Minneapolis for decades to come.
Leaders of the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, which owns Target Field, and the Twins have noted the team already covers the roughly $20 million a year it takes to run the stadium. They say they’re ready to work with county leaders on a plan to convert the tax with some money dedicated for the stadium’s upkeep.
“We’ve long felt the Twins and Hennepin County’s relationship is a model for a public-private partnership,” said Dave St. Peter, Twins president and CEO.
Preparing for next year
Kareem Murphy, Hennepin County’s director of intergovernmental relations and top lobbyist, said conversion of the sales tax was one of the biggest legislative proposals he’s worked on and a lot needs to be done to regain lawmakers’ trust.
“That is something that needs to happen fast,” Murphy said. “I had legislators tell me, ‘How do you expect me to push for $1 billion if the hospital is fighting with the county?'”
County leaders fear they missed their chance to secure decades worth of dedicated health care funding. Control of the now DFL-majority House and Senate will be decided in November.
Yet Fernando says she is already talking with lawmakers to reassure them of the county’s unified vision. “If we choose to pursue the ballpark sales tax again next year, it needs to be airtight, beyond airtight,” she said.
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Chris Hawkey loves hopping on his motorcycle and going for a ride.
“I enjoy the freedom of being on a motorcycle,” said Hawkey, the co-host of KFAN Radio’s “Power Trip Morning Show” and a local country music performer. “I love the speed and all the crazy things about it.”
Hawkey also knows he takes a risk every time he hits the road.
“It’s the most dangerous thing I do every day,” he said. “I have to depend on everybody else paying attention to me, and I know that is not happening. I have to pay attention for both of us.”
Though he’s been riding motorcycles for more than 40 years, Hawkey knows he needs to keep his riding skills sharp. On a recent Sunday, he took a refresher class offered by the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center that, since the 1980s, has been offering courses for riders of all abilities, from novices to experts. The hands-on courses cover everything from braking, stopping, counter-steering, making tight or U-turns and how to control the bike in traffic. Some classes include online modules.
Riding coach Lara Holland said classes allow riders “to brush up on motorcycle skills.”
The push to get riders to enroll comes as motorcycle deaths in Minnesota hit 29 for the year as of last Wednesday and are on pace to surpass the 82 who died in 2022, the most in 38 years. The safety center’s mission is to prevent motorcycle deaths and injuries by providing rider education, training and licensing
Hawkey recently bought a new Harley Davidson Pan America, which rides quite a bit differently from his old Road King. It also has been nearly 30 years since he took a riding class, and he knew it was time.
“The worst thing you can do when you are a motorcycle rider is become overconfident,” Hawkey said before his class in the Hennepin Technical College parking lot. “I think it is a good idea, even for people who have been riding for a long time. You are learning things that will make you safer on the road. I will come out of here feeling that I am a better motorcycle rider.”
Malfunction sidelines pride-themed bus
For the first time ever, Metro Transit wrapped one of its buses with pride-themed artwork and put it in service on several routes during June. The bus also was widely featured on social media.
The agency planned to showcase the bus during the Twin Cities Pride parade June 30. But an unexpected malfunction discovered the night before the parade idled the bus. Technicians worked through the night in hopes of having it ready but were unsuccessful, said Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr
“Unfortunately, repairs could not be completed in time and an alternative bus was used,” he said. “This was a disappointment for us, and we have offered our regrets to Pride leadership.”
Metro Transit assumed the cost of wrapping the bus as part of a promotional exchange with Twin Cities Pride, Kerr said. He did not provide a cost.
BROOTEN, Minn. – When the folks at Redhead Creamery are crafting their artisan cheeses, they now have liquor in mind. And for good reason.
As award-winning cheeses such as Margie Cheddar and North Fork Whiskey Washed Munster are produced, only about 10% of the milk actually becomes cheese. The rest is whey, a yellowish liquid that can be further broken down into protein — which can be fed to cows or sold commercially for humans — and sugar.
For the first time last week, Redhead Creamery owners turned that sugar into a spirit called araga, a clear liquor that’s less harsh than whiskey, rye or even vodka.
“It tastes like vodka, but creamy. There’s some softness to it,” said Lucas Sjostrom, who runs the creamery with his wife, Alise, and her parents, Jerry and Linda Jennissen.
For centuries, people around the world have been creating alcohol by fermenting milk, but the process of distilling whey into a specialty liquor is fairly recent, with a smattering of whey-based spirits coming onto the market in the past decade. Those include Vodkow Vodka from Ontario, Wheyward Spirit from California and Copper Crow from Bayfield, Wis.
But the product is still incredibly rare, with industry experts estimating there are fewer than two dozen distilleries worldwide making whey-based spirits. Lucas Sjostrom attributes this to the inefficiency of using whey compared with grain when making alcohol, and the lack of availability of whey for many distillers.
“You pretty much have to have a cheese plant and get free whey,” said Sjostrom, 37. “But we have a source and we love bringing dairy to life.”
The creamery-made aragas and vodkas are now for sale at the venue’s tasting room, which also recently started serving burgers, cheese flights and desserts. The cocktail menu has seven specialty drinks, many using araga, and all are garnished with one of Redhead’s artisan cheeses.
Decades of dairy love
The creamery owners’ love for all things dairy started decades ago. Jerry and Linda Jennissen met at a county calf show and, after they were married, moved to a farm just north of the current creamery in 1979. That first winter, they stumbled upon the creamery property while cross-country skiing.
“It was an abandoned property. They stood just north of the creamery here and said, ‘This would be a cool place to raise our family. This would be a cool place to raise cows,'” Sjostrom said. “They just thought this was so idyllic.”
The couple bought 40 acres of the farm in 1983 and have since restored it to its original 300 acres.
Lucas and Alise also met through dairy, at a Junior Holstein Association convention. They started dating at the University of Minnesota, where Lucas was majoring in animal sciences and Alise in dairy food quality.
Alise, 38, also participated in the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contest and was known by her friends as “Cheese Alise.”
“I had high school friends who called me that,” she said with a laugh. “They would always tease me because I was always very promotional of drinking your milk and eating your cheese.”
Alise said she knew in high school that she wanted to someday open an artisan cheese company. While living in Vermont for a few years, Alise worked at Grafton Village Cheese Co. That helped convince Lucas to get on board.
“Within her first few weeks of work, she sent cheese to George H.W. Bush, John Travolta and the CEO of Disney/Pixar at the time. And I was like, ‘Oh, people buy this stuff,'” he said. “We had no friends. We had no kids. We had no family. So we just started going to cheese companies and breweries every weekend and etching out a business plan.”
They moved back to Minnesota in 2012 to start a family and, shortly afterward, an artisan cheese-making business. Lucas is also the executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association, where he advocates for dairy farmers across the Midwest.
While the farmstead cheese company was Alise’s dream, adding spirits was all Lucas. He said he first saw a story about people turning whey into alcohol in 2011.
“I probably drank Busch Light at the time and probably didn’t know what spirits were,” he said. “But I think we can make as much revenue out of our cheese vat from the cheese side as we can on the spirits side.”
Over the past decade, Lucas has taken distilling courses and visited nearly 200 distilleries across the country.
“It’s a community just like the cheese community,” he said. “If you say, ‘I’m going to be a distiller,’ they’re like, ‘Come on back! Here are all the things I don’t tell on the tour.’ It was very valuable.”
The science behind it
So how does whey become araga? After the cheese-making process, the remaining whey is run through a filter to separate the protein from sugar. Lactase is added to break down the sugar and yeast is added to convert the glucose to alcohol.
At this stage of the process, the liquid is “Mountain Dew yellow” and tastes similar to a cider beer. That liquid is then heated through the distillation process. The final product is about 40% alcohol.
“This is by no means a new technology,” Lucas said. “But what they figured out over the past 70 years is the protein part is the valuable part [of whey] worldwide. What we’re doing is the opposite. We’re saying, let’s give the protein to the cows and let’s turn the sugar into alcohol.”
Redhead Creamery, 31535 463rd Av., Brooten, Minn., redheadcreamery.com. Tasting room and cheese shop open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.; farm tours available at 12:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat.
