15 West Kellogg Blvd.

Saint Paul, MN 55102

City of Saint Paul

Meeting Minutes - Action Only

Legislative Hearings

Marcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer

Mai Vang, Hearing Coordinator

Joanna Zimny, Executive Assistant

legislativehearings@ci.stpaul.mn.us

651-266-8585

Thursday, April 17, 2025

9:00 AM

Room 330 City Hall & Court House/Remote

9:00 a.m. Hearings

Special Tax Assessments

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1686 RACE

STREET. (File No. CG2501A1-1, Assessment No. 250115)

RLH TA 25-145

Sponsors:

Jost

Layover to LH May 6, 2025 at 3 pm (PO cannot attend). LH staff to send email to title

co.

Laid Over to the Legislative Hearings due back on 5/6/2025

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1226

BERKELEY AVENUE. (File No. CG2502A1, Assessment No. 250113)

RLH TA 25-218

Sponsors:

Jost

Delete the assessment.

Referred to the City Council due back on 5/14/2025

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1122

JACKSON STREET. (File No. CG2502A2, Assessment No. 250114)

RLH TA 25-208

Sponsors:

Kim

Layover to LH May 6, 2025 at 3 pm to find out due process requirements for the

deceased.

Laid Over to the Legislative Hearings due back on 5/6/2025

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 840

RLH TA 25-217

MONTANA AVENUE WEST. (File No. CG2502A1, Assessment No. 250113)

Sponsors:

Kim

Delete the assessment.

Referred to the City Council due back on 5/14/2025

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1453 PAYNE

AVENUE. (File No. CG2502A1, Assessment No. 250113)

RLH TA 25-219

Sponsors:

Kim

Approve the assessment.

Referred to the City Council due back on 5/14/2025

Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1709

SCHEFFER AVENUE. (File No. CG2502A1, Assessment No. 250113)

RLH TA 25-222

Sponsors:

Jost

Approve the assessment.

No one appeared April 17, 2025.

Moermond: we had the owner show up last week at hearings and hadn’t let us know

he was coming, so we had no prepared file. But he did talk at us for a good length of

time about City policies and not necessarily the garbage bill. He did work with Public

Works after that.

Jillian Barden: the property owner thought the Quarter 3 2024 assessment removed

at Legislative Hearing in January 2025 would show up on his Quarter 4 2025 garbage

bill. He came to the hearing April 10, 2025 unplanned and I spoke with him about how

the assessment works and he stated he will pay the assessment. Staff doesn’t

recommend removal or reduction.

Moermond: recommend approval.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Andrew Busteed, owner, appeared on April 10

Moermond: what address are you here on sir?

Busteed: I’m sorry, good morning to you all. How are you all.

Moermond: fine. What address are you here on?

Busteed: I asked you to say good morning and acknowledge it.

Moermond: I know you asked that, I asked what address you’re here on. Please have

a seat.

Busteed: great. Thank you and good morning.

Moermond: hello, please have a seat.

Busteed: my file number is CG2502A1.

Moermond: that puts you on a list with 1,000 other addresses, could you give me

your address, please?

Busteed: 1709 Scheffer Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota. Property ID 09-28-23-43-005.

Moermond: that isn’t on our agenda. Did you call to appeal?

Busteed: yeah, I set it up for today.

Moermond: with who, do you remember?

Busteed: I don’t know. I followed the instructions on the letter when I received it a

month ago. I set it up for today. I also sent in a note.

Jillian Barden: we show him coming in January 2 and asked for a $6.12 late fee to

removed—

Busteed: yeah, and I never got that addressed? Where am I at with that $16? I

haven’t gotten that back Marcia.

Moermond: my name is Ms. Moermond in this room.

Busteed: that’s what I said.

Moermond: and what is your name?

Busteed: my name is Andrew Busteed. Nice to meet you and good morning again.

Moermond: thank you, we’ll try to figure something out here. We don’t have a specific

appeal that has been filed yet—

Busteed: do you need me to come back another day?

Moermond: Ms. Barden, tell me more about the record in the Customer Service file.

Barden: he asked for a $6 late fee to be removed.

Busteed: and all I’ve received is a canned letter and no action.

Moermond: and I would love it if you would let her finish her report.

Busteed: that’s great. I’m just giving you the follow up.

Moermond: you can wait just a second and let her finish. And you didn’t even let me

start at all—

Busteed: floor is yours. Time is money baby. Let’s go, let’s get ‘er done.

Moermond: sir, you have to show up with more respect.

Busteed: I’m just going to tell you ma’am, you’ve successfully taken my wife to close

her building and her business in St. Paul. My wife has convinced me she is happy in

her new location with her 25 people. She successfully happy moving into her new

home next month and getting away from this clown act you guys have going on down

here and this lying cheating thief down here at the end of the hall doesn’t follow his

own rules. So let’s get to the bottom of this garbage can thing! And why couldn’t you

guys have figured out this solution in the beginning with Waste Management? You

took away my 25 year carrier—if you really wanna know it was my 50 year carrier

because my parents had the same carrier! They did a fine job. Now you want to plow

alleys. You folks have to get your act together. You guys—he’s a lying thief down

here about this spot on Randolph. All the paperwork was filed. He’s just covering his

tracks so he can run for the next office. What do we need to do to get this thing

resolved because I’m done with your City and I’m moving the heck out of here. I

wanna know what needs to be done when, how much and who is going to take care

of it. And I wanna be out of here in 5 minutes! Am I clear!? *pause* YES? AM I

CLEAR?

Moermond: not your hearing sir—

Busteed: it is my hearing, I pay your salary—

Moermond: I pay my salary too. Enough of that.

Busteed: that’s great. Get the hell out of the City ‘cuz it’s horrible.

Barden: I love St. Paul.

Busteed: I used too.

Barden: the only other notes I have is that I did reach out to the previous hauler and

asked about the late fee. He made a late payment September 6, 2024, which is why

he ended up with a late fee, and he called October 4 complaining about it. He was

very rude to the staff working for the Hauler.

Busteed: as I clearly stated to you folks down here, and clearly stated it to YOU. Are

you paying attention to me or are you multitasking?

Moermond: I’m trying to look up your address in the tax records.

[Busteed talking over LHO: I’d appreciate it if you’d put your laptop down]

Moermond: keep going, because it isn’t showing up on the garbage roll, which is what

I was looking up.

Busteed: I specifically explained to you that my checks do not get processed in due

time. You were going to give me a credit back. All you did is waste the 60 cents on

your canned letter you send everyone else and nothing has been taken care of.

Barden: I sent that letter.

Busteed: oh, you did? Thank you very much I appreciate your service. So, it sounds

like we’re not going to get anywhere. We don’t have any resolution on that credit. I’ll

let you go about your business today. There’s no other City business that needs to be

completed other than for me to sell my home, pay my taxes next month, and be out

of your City.

Moermond: what exactly is your ask today?

Busteed: where’s my credit? I don’t owe you any money for trash service or anything.

You clowns gotta get your act together.

Moermond: I know it’s fun for you to call names but I tell you what, I have a $71.84

assessment. You want a credit of what I was hearing was $6.

Busteed: I don’t wanna pay that bill.

Moermond: you don’t want to pay any of the bill? Or part of the bill?

Busteed: I’m obligated to pay the bill for the clown trash service. I just want my credit

from the last time I was down here to go towards that bill. Then I’ll pay it.

Moermond: since we didn’t know this gentleman was coming, Ms. Barden can you

create a file that has all the background information on it, check with the haulers on

their billing records. We can review that file and send you an email—

Busteed: here’s another clown act. You’re delegating work to her that cost me

taxpayer dollars. Now she has to spend over an hour and 15 minutes doing this

research—I’m sorry if I point—that between her salary, the tools she uses in the City,

her benefits, and her pension, that’s more than the dollar amount on the bill. Why

can’t we resolve this here and now and get this taken care of so I don’t have to spend

more of my tax dollars? See this is the stuff that you guys gotta get under control—

Barden: we did remove—

Busteed: I spent 35 years in corporate America. I understand how to run a business

and get it done.

Moermond: sir, for the record, you are on an assessment roll that includes 2,638

properties. In that is $412,391 [BUSTEED WHISTLES IN BACKGROUND]—Please

let me finish! That is people who didn’t pay their bills. On my agenda today [Busteed

argues in background]---let me finish sir! No, it is my hearing room and you’ve been

talking over me—there are 5 appeals out of those 2,000+ properties. This is what we

do to make sure they’re accurate. [Busteed continues arguing and stands to leave]

Barden: we did remove it.

Moermond: let’s put this in writing and send it out by email.

Busteed: I don’t have an email. What’s your phone number?

Barden: I’m not sure, I’m not in the office.

Moermond: we’ll send a letter via US Mail.

Busteed: don’t waste the tax money. Start focusing on the things that need to get

done.

Moermond: we will do our jobs and make a complete record.

Busteed: you always gotta get the last statement in! Let it go, I’m out of here. Thank

you all for your service, Ma’am—

Moermond: goodbye.

Referred to the City Council due back on 5/14/2025