A chief author of the Minnesota Vikings stadium plan said Sunday it was "very questionable" that the project would win approval unless Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders first reach agreement on other issues.
"Without a global agreement, without an agreement on a bonding bill and a tax bill," said Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, "it's very questionable whether there will be a vote on the stadium."
The tax bill is something the Republicans want.
Republicans want the elimination of the statewide business property tax, a move the governor has resisted because it could require dipping into the state's emergency budget reserves.
Or worse, it could even lead to reductions in the size of government, something Dayton can't abide. Meanwhile, once again John Marty says something that is (a) true and (b) politically inconvenient:
But a plan to instead rely on user fees, placing charges on everything from tickets and stadium signs to the Vikings' share of television revenue, will likely be offered on the Senate floor.
If user fees replaced public subsidies for the stadium, "I would guess 99 percent of the public opposition [to the stadium] would go away," Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, a longtime critic of stadium public subsidies, said Sunday.
However, the one thing that the Vikings and the NFL can't abide is the idea that the people who actually use their palace would pay for it.
4 comments:
As a Vikings season ticket holder already forking over $2,300+ a year, I'll be happy to pay "user fees" the moment light rail riders, Guthrie Theater goers, and all parents of public school children do likewise and refund me all my taxes they took for their goodies. Then I'll actually be able to afford them.
Until then, there is no reason whatsoever to apply a standard to a Vikings stadium that gets applied to NOTHING else in this state. If this "user fees" bit happens, the general fund will be tapped just as surely as it will with charitable gambling, because nobody will be able to afford tickets to the new building.
And I sure as heck hope some legislator has the balls to attach a "user fees" amendment on every other bill that comes down the pike, just to illustrate the raging hypocrisy of this stunt.
As a Vikings season ticket holder already forking over $2,300+ a year, I'll be happy to pay "user fees" the moment light rail riders, Guthrie Theater goers, and all parents of public school children do likewise and refund me all my taxes they took for their goodies. Then I'll actually be able to afford them.
That doesn't undercut the point at all. It actually reinforces the point. The government shouldn't have been involved in the Guthrie, either.
I'll go along with Anonymous as soon as they start paying dancers at the Guthrie $10 million salaries. And when Forbes publishes an article estimating that dance companies are worth $700 million. Then, yes, we can treat the dance companies exactly like we treat the Vikings.
Or, we can point out that the ViQueens are only earning $10 million a year (for at least the marquee players) because the taxpayer is subsidizing them heavily. Sorry, the real subsidy for stadia is about $100 million per team--about the same as the entire payroll.
So that footballer is really worth....well....about what the Bears gave Red Grange back in the 1920s, more or less. $200k per year or less.
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