Street Lights

Report a Burned Out Street Light

The city of St Cloud has various electrical providers for our streetlights. Each streetlight has a pole number, this number provides helpful information to assist the provider on locating the light. To report a streetlight that is burned out, contact the Public Works Department at 320-650-2900 or by email. Please provide the pole number, address where the pole is located and the nearest intersection.

Policy for Placement of Street Lights

The City Council has established a uniform policy for the placement of streetlights in the City of St. Cloud as follows:

• Lights installed at every intersection
• Mid-block lights installed if the distance between cross streets exceeds 700 feet
• Lights installed at the bulb of cul-de-sacs that are longer than 300 feet
• City Council will consider installation of additional streetlights if petitioned by property owners in affected area. Cost of additional lights may be assessed to the affected property owners

Street Light Utility

On January 1, 2011, the City of St. Cloud implemented a Street Light Utility (SLU). The SLU provides a dedicated funding source for electricity, operation and maintenance of city-owned streetlights. Previously the costs for the operation and maintenance of the street light system were included in the annual property tax bills. As of 2011, all property owners, taxable and tax exempt, now pay for this service on their utility bills. By creating the SLU, the city reduced its property tax levy by the cost of operation and maintenance of the street light system.

The benefits of funding the street light system using a SLU include:

• Requires tax-exempt properties to assume a proportionate share of street light costs.
• Fees structured in an equitable manner that reflected actual benefits and service costs as opposed to treating all properties alike.