Here's hoping we're next!

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_r...t=.jsp&c_id=min

Congrats to the Twins but Im not sure its signed sealed and delivered yet. Sounds similiar to when Henry announced his stadium plan..contingent on some approvals. Remember that one went down the drain. Sounds like the Twins will need the county to contribute around 235 million and Im sure there has to be approval for that somewhere.

 

Interestingly, we have enough funding for a stadium, just not retractable roof. Sounds like the twins want the state to pitch in for the roof also.

It's not close to a done deal - just a new financing plan without state funding that still has to be approved.

 

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the shadow of a stadium he's been itching to abandon, Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad depicted the latest plan to end the protracted fight for a publicly subsidized ballpark as a can't-lose proposition.

 

"It's something we've dreamed about, all of us. I can just visualize it out there now," said Pohlad on Monday outside the Metrodome. His plan calls for a ballpark that would open in time for the 2009 season.

 

But while he and others spoke as though the proposed $360 million, 42,000-seat downtown stadium was a done deal, state officials who must consent to an increased Hennepin County sales tax received the plan cautiously.

 

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the proposal struck him as "reasonable" but said he would prefer that the sales tax hike -- 15 cents on every $100 spent in the county -- be put to a public referendum.

 

Although he stopped short of demanding such a vote, a few state legislators from Hennepin County indicated they'd have trouble supporting a bill that doesn't force one.

 

Hennepin County commissioners are scheduled to take public testimony on the Twins plan at a meeting Tuesday and vote on it as soon as next week, said board chairman Randy Johnson.

 

Johnson opposes a referendum, which Twins officials described as a dealbreaker.

 

"We were elected to make decisions, including decisions like this," Johnson said.

 

The Twins, who have been after a new stadium for a decade, have been on the brink of getting one before. In 2002, a bill authorizing financing for a ballpark cleared the Legislature, but the Twins said the numbers didn't work for them.

 

The latest plan calls for a $125 million upfront contribution from Pohlad, a billionaire who has owned the team for two decades. Jerry Bell, Pohlad's longtime point man on stadium issues, said there are no restrictions on where that payment comes from -- meaning it could come from selling naming rights or other privately raised money. It must be paid by the time the ballpark opens.

 

Pohlad sidestepped questions about the source of his payment but said the public was getting a fair deal.

 

"With the substantial contribution we're making, I don't know how they can say no," Pohlad said of lawmakers.

 

The total project cost is estimated at $478 million, if roadwork, site preparation and other infrastructure improvements are factored in.

 

The Twins and Hennepin County would make annual contributions, beginning at $600,000 and $1.4 million respectively, for future maintenance.

 

Meanwhile, Pawlenty and leading lawmakers said the Twins bill should sit on the shelf at the Capitol until legislators finish work on the state budget. The 2005 session must adjourn by May 23, and the House and Senate have most of their budget bills left to pass.

 

House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen said even though the proposal doesn't seek any state contribution, he remains skeptical about the public's share.

 

"I'm not convinced if you go out to dinner in Eden Prairie that you should be paying sales tax for a stadium in downtown Minneapolis," said Paulsen, an Eden Prairie Republican.

 

Retiree John Slattery of Plymouth echoed Paulsen.

 

"Why should I be saddled with some kind of sales tax for a benefit that goes primarily for Carl Pohlad," Slattery said.

 

The new plan doesn't include money for a retractable roof, although the stadium would be built to accommodate one in the future. Twins officials said that $100 million cost would have to be borne by the state, which Pawlenty called unlikely this year.

 

Surrounded by local politicians and Twins greats Kent Hrbek and Paul Molitor on a wind-swept Metrodome plaza, the unpredictability of April baseball at a fresh-air stadium wasn't lost on Pohlad.

 

"It's a little cold," he said. "Maybe we could vote for a roof now."

 

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2046185&num=0

Tonight the Hennepin County Commission voted 4-3 in favor of adding an additional 0.15% County sales tax to fund a new ballpark for the Twins. The Minnesota State Legislature still have to approve the tax.

The County will pay $235 million of the est. ballpark price of $360 million. They also will pay an additional $84 million for related infrastructure costs. Bonding costs will add another $34 million. Twins will pay $125 million. It's estimated that the tax will raise $28 million per year and it could be implemented over a 30 year period.

Everybody's getting a ballpark but us.

We are much further along than the Twins. The tax was already approved by voters and the state back in the 80's when they built the Miami Arena. It is a 2% Professional Sports Sales Tax. We also will see Dade County put in some money from the 1% Convention Development Tax.

 

The City will pay its share using the profits from the proposed garages.

 

The Marlins will use their rent payments to pay the county for their share.

 

All that is missing is the $30 million that they state would fill by granting the $60 million tax rebate over 30 years at $2 million a year.

We are much further along than the Twins. The tax was already approved by voters and the state back in the 80's when they built the Miami Arena. It is a 2% Professional Sports Sales Tax. We also will see Dade County put in some money from the 1% Convention Development Tax.

 

The City will pay its share using the profits from the proposed garages.

 

The Marlins will use their rent payments to pay the county for their share.

 

All that is missing is the $30 million that they state would fill by granting the $60 million tax rebate over 30 years at $2 million a year.

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Cape, you know something we don't?

 

So far this week all news are negative.

http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...ndpost&p=763589