Commentary; Posted: 2/8/06
Now is the time to OK Twins stadium
Last April county commissioners from Hennepin County approved a deal in partnership with the Minnesota Twins to construct an open-air 42,000-seat stadium in the Minneapolis warehouse district near Target Center.
The Twins organization said it would contribute $125 million toward construction of a stadium estimated to cost $360 million, and the county planned to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds payable with a sales tax of one-fifteenth of one percent (three cents for every $20, or 15 cents on every $100) to pay the remaining cost. The sales tax would exclude groceries, clothing or medical costs.
The agreement called for the Twins to assume operation and maintenance costs, as well as cost overruns, and there would be an ironclad 30-year lease.
A bill for the stadium bogged down in committee at the end of the 2005 legislative session and the Hennepin County agreement expired at the end of the year when no special session was called.
But there is reason to believe such an agreement can be reached again and that a bill would receive favorable response in the House of Representatives. It is time for House and the Minnesota Senate to take action on a matter that has dragged on for more than a decade.
For the deal to become reality, the legislature must vote to waive a state requirement for Hennepin County to conduct a referendum on the sales tax proposal.
There are many good reasons for such a stadium, not the least of which is that major league sports are part of the quality of life about which we Minnesotans like to brag.
But there are other reasons, not the least of which is that the state is estimated to collect more than $10 million annually from player income taxes and ballpark-related sales. Construction is expected to generate 500 full-time equivalent jobs for about three years.
Public financing of stadiums is commonplace, with some cities in the United States using public money to build two stadiums. Public money was used in Minnesota for the new Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul where the Minnesota Wild play, the Mall of America in Bloomington, the Metrodome and light rail, all of which were controversial at the time.
Monday's decision in a Hennepin County District Court that determined the Twins have no obligation to play in the Metrodome beyond this year is more reason for legislators to get the job done. The delay from last year has already resulted in a $30 million estimated cost increase.
Many who use those facilities wouldnít want to be without them now.
The Metrodome was built as a football stadium, not a baseball stadium, and the Twins, with first- or second-place finishes in their division from 2001 through 2004, ranked anywhere from 26th to 29th (among 30 teams) in total local revenue in the Major Leagues during those years.
There can be no better deal for a new ballpark in Minnesota than the one proposed by the Twins and Hennepin County last year. No money from the stateís general fund would be used.
The legislative session that begins next month is the time for Gov. Tim Pawlenty to take a leadership role so the House and Senate can step to the plate and get the job done for a new stadium.
ó An opinion from the ECM Editorial Board. The Forest Lake Times is part of ECM Publishers, Inc.
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