St. Paul, Minneapolis budgets released this week

The mayors of Minnesota's two largest cities release their budget proposals this week.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman unveils his budget plan Monday at the Farmer's Market in Lowertown.

Coleman says he'll propose to increase the city's property tax levy by about 2 percent. In spite of that, most homeowners will actually see their tax bills go down, because residential property values have fallen further than other types of real estate. That means the tax burden will fall more heavily on commercial, industrial and rental property.

Coleman will propose to fill vacancies in the police department, but a citywide composting program is not expected to make it into his budget this year.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak presents his budget to the city council on Wednesday. His spokesman says he's aiming for a tax levy increase of less than 3 percent.