Big thanks to NorthernStar for making a FanShot that highlighted this story from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Apparently the Minnesota Timberwolves, of all teams, have come up with a proposal that could be a solution to the stadium woes of the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota Public Radio obtained a copy of this proposal, and although I'm relatively biased because I really want this stadium thing to get done, I don't see very many issues with it at all.
Here's what the proposal suggests.
The plan calls for a regional sports authority, and would issue 25-year bonds through the Metropolitan Council to raise $1.173 billion to not only build a new Vikings stadium, but also renovate Target Center (the home of the Timberwolves), build a new St. Paul Saints ballpark and assume the debt on the Xcel Center, the home of the Minnesota Wild.
While the plan would ask the teams to contribute, according to MPR, the majority of the funding -- $74 million annually -- would come from taxpayers. MPR said the plan initially proposed levying a one-fifth-cent metrowide sales tax, using state tobacco settlement funds, tapping the proceeds of a new downtown Minneapolis casino and getting money from a Vikings lottery game.
Seriously, how much could a one-fifth-cent sales tax amount to? It sure as heck couldn't be very much, I wouldn't think. After all, if the one-half cent sales tax that's being discussed in Ramsey County would cost the average resident about $33 a year, a one-fifth cent tax would certainly cost less per person, and would be spread over the entire Twin Cities metro area as opposed to just one county.
So, from a measly little one-fifth cent tax, we'd get a brand new Vikings' stadium, a renovated Target Center, and a new ballpark for the St. Paul Saints? Man, where do I sign up?