ST. PAUL
If Ramsey County decides to put a Minnesota Vikings stadium sales tax to voters in 2012, the stadium project - at least in Arden Hills - is dead, a leading legislator said Wednesday.
"For all intents and purposes, I think it would kill the project, for that location," said Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, the pointman in the House on the stadium. "If somebody wanted to kill the project, that would be a good way to do it."
Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, called the prediction premature.
She said a referendum, which she favors, would present a hurdle, but it's too early to say it would scuttle the deal, the details of which are still evolving.
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"There's no package yet," Koch said.
The Ramsey County Charter Commission will hold two public hearings in the next month and is expected to vote by mid-November on whether to put a question before voters in November 2012 about the county using a new sales tax to fund a stadium.
The stadium plan calls for the county to come up with $350 million for the stadium, the state to chip in $300 million and the Vikings $407 million or more.
Under the plan, the state would authorize the county to approve the tax without voter approval - an exemption from state law - but it's the county's decision whether to do that or go to voters, Lanning said.
Involving voters - regardless of how they ultimately vote - would mean a costly delay, Lanning said, and the Vikings would have to consider other sites, if the team is willing.
"That's a big 'if,'" Lanning said.
Lester Bagley, the Vikings' vice president of public affairs and stadium development, declined to speculate on the potential impact of a referendum, saying the focus needs to be on finalizing the proposal and getting it in front of lawmakers.
The stadium issue has been relatively quiet recently as stakeholders await an environmental and technical review of the Arden Hills site, which is due by mid-October.
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Lanning said he and Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, have been meeting with Gov. Mark Dayton's staff to iron out details and to try to craft a proposal that will get bipartisan support from lawmakers, either in a Vikings-related special session or in the regular legislative session that starts early next year.
Ramsey County Charter Commission Chairman Richard Sonterre said Lanning's predictions about the effect of a referendum on the project aren't outlandish, but what happens in November 2012 could be influenced by any number of variables.
"I mean, the economy can get better. The economy can get worse," he said.
"Los Angeles can come to the Vikings with an outstanding offer, and we'd be powerless to do anything about it. There's factors in there, whether it's the economy, or whether we have a winning or losing perception of our team. We're speculating on whether there is going to be a vote. We're going to have to wait and see what happens with the charter commission," Sonterre said.
Resolutions taken up by the commission to date shed little light on whether the board will vote to put anti-stadium language on the November 2012 ballot, Sonterre said.
"If you look at any of the votes we've taken so far on it, virtually all the very aggressive anti-stadium language put before us has been defeated," he said. To date, the commission has favored "more moderate, less specific, less antagonistic language....I think a lot of people are going to make their minds up the night of the meeting."
Pioneer Press reporter Frederick Melo contributed to this report.
Distributed by MCT Information Services
