Rebecca Noecker, who for years has advocated a city role in helping St. Paul's poorest families pay for child care, couldn't hide her disappointment with her group's defeat at the polls.

But the St. Paul City Council member who'd hoped residents would be willing to use property taxes to aid those families on Wednesday said she's not ready to throw in the towel.

"Obviously, it's really early yet to know what the next steps will be," she said after 60% of city voters rejected the proposal to hike the city's levy by $2 million per year for 10 years, according to unofficial results. "I'm grateful for all the work over the past several years — and the 50,000-plus voters who supported the idea. There were a lot of wins here."

At least, she said, proponents succeeded in raising a potential city role in helping make child care more affordable. In Austin, Texas, and Sonoma County, Calif., similar ballot measures were approved by voters.

"I think we were hearing more tax fatigue from voters than ever before," Noecker said. "But everyone agrees that child care is far too expensive and shouldn't be something that only families with means can afford."

Yes for St. Paul Families promoted a plan asking voters to approve a property tax levy increase that would be distributed as subsidies to low-income families and child care providers. The St. Paul City Council voted in August 2023 to override St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter's veto of the proposal, putting it on the November ballot.

Carter recently said the plan cost too much while helping too few families. He said he would not implement it, even if voters had approved it.

"Our effort as a group of people is not going away," campaign spokesman Gordie Loewen said Wednesday. "We'll be ready to lend support in any effort that comes forth to invest in kids."

In compiling a workable plan that shows a way to help families fill the gaps in state and federal aid for child care, years of planning and advocacy paid off in greater visibility of low-income families' struggles — and a possible way forward, Loewen said.

"The problem's not going away, and neither are we," he said. "We just have to determine what's next."