$500K gift to help some Northsiders with tree removal costs

Winston Minor received a $6,000 bill for the removal of an ash tree in 2022. The bill was tacked on to his property taxes, but the non-profit Metro Blooms stepped in to pay off the assessment. Photo by David Pierini

Some Northside residents socked with an order to remove trees diseased with emerald ash borer may be eligible for compensation thanks to a $500,000 donation secured by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

The money, from the Margaret A. Cargill Fund of the Saint Paul Minnesota Foundation, will first be applied retroactively to eligible residents who had a tree removal bill tacked on to their property taxes.

News of the grant announced Friday caps off a contentious year where activists and residents disrupted MPRB meetings to bring attention to how the tree removal assessments were creating hardships in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

Residents complained about being blindsided with orders. If they did not hire a tree service, MPRB contracted with a service and then applied the cost to their property taxes. Removing the trees is a widely accepted strategy to halt or slow the spread of emerald ash borer and state law makes property owners responsible for the cost. But with some trees costing a few thousand dollars to remove, residents said the assessments put them at risk of losing their homes.

“While we are deeply grateful for this gift, we know our work is not finished,” said Park and Recreation Supt. Al Bangoura. “We will continue to search for federal and state grants and philanthropic entities to give more homeowners financial relief.”

For now, only residents living in federally recognized “census tracts defined as disadvantaged” are eligible to receive the help, though activists continue to urge MPRB to consider the Environmental Protection Agency’s broader map of environmental justice zones to help more people.

The Cargill Fund donation will cover assessments going back to last year. The current amount pending and unpaid is estimated at $368,000. According to MRPB’s Finance Department, that amount will likely increase as it receives outstanding invoices for tree removals.

Earlier this year, the City of Minneapolis learned it will receive an $8 million grant to help needy homeowners defray removal costs. This money can only be used for future removals.

On Dec. 6, the board will consider a resolution to pause condemnations of ash trees until the grant can be applied to offset future tree removals.