With problems aplenty plaguing the Minneapolis Vikings stadium proposals, Ramsey County rushed back onto the field this morning with a new financing plan that relies on user fees for its Arden Hills stadium site.
Ramsey’s earlier financing ideas didn’t fly: first, an extra half-cent county-wide sales tax and then a 3 percent tax of food and liquor in the county.
The new plan calls for a basket of revenue raisers, including naming rights for the parking lot (really), parking fees, an admissions surcharge, stadium sales taxes and taxes on new developments in the area. Together they’d raise about $20 million a year for the county’s share of a $1.1 billion stadium.
Ramsey County Commissioners Rafael Ortega, Tony Bennett and Jan Parker are taking their new pitch to the governor this morning.
