Sites have not been selected, although St. Paul is vying for the Twins ballpark and Minneapolis seems the likely choice for a football stadium.
The Minnesota Twins recently opened spring training after spending much of the fall and winter wondering if they would be eliminated by Major League Baseball. That effort was abandoned for this year after Major League Baseball lost a court battle. One reason the Twins have a better change of getting approval this year is the continuing threat ofcontraction.
On divided voice votes, the House jobs and economic development finance committee sent the two Twins bills to other committees without recommendation, which allowed the measures to proceed without constraining committee members to a strong endorsement of the politically sensitive issue.
A bill introduced by Rep. Tom Osthoff, DFL-St. Paul, and supported by St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly establishes a $1 ticket tax at the ballpark and up to a 3% sales tax at city bars and restaurants to help finance a Twins home in St. Paul. That bill already has passed one Senate committee.
The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, would employ a variety of fees--such as a metropolitan car rental tax and a charge to news media that report from the ballpark--to help finance the stadium.
It also would establish a taxing district around the stadium in which a tax of up to 7% could be imposed on admissions, novelties, food, beverages, parking, premium ballpark seats, lodging and advertising. A tax on alcoholic beverages in the district could not exceed 9%. These taxes would be in lieu of other sales taxes.
Approval of the taxing district would have to come through a referendum of city voters.
Although Osthoff's bill does not include a referendum, legislators warned him that a referendum requirement might be added by another committee. Gov. JesseVentura has criticized the bill for raising taxes without allowing St. Paul voters a say in the matter.
Meanwhile, a plan to build a Vikings and University of Minnesota football stadium on the latter's Minneapolis campus was defeated by a large margin in its first committee test. The stadium would cost as much as $500 million. Vikings owner Red McCombs and the National Football League would put up a combined $150 million.
The bill calls for a package of new or increased fees tied to the stadium or sports in general, including a 6.5% tax on NFL and collegiate memorabilia and clothing sold in Minnesota.
Other debt would be erased using player income taxes, a fee on media broadcasting from the stadium and proceeds from a football-themed lottery.
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