Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, "pushing
herself front and center into the Twins ballpark debate,"
said yesterday that the city should commit $54M "to acquire,
clear and prepare a Mississippi riverfront site for a Twins
stadium," according to Jay Weiner of the Minneapolis STAR
TRIBUNE. She also proposed that the MN Legislature "enact a
half-cent sales tax in the seven-county metro area that
would fund not only the ballpark but a mass-transit
initiative and an expanded Minneapolis Convention Center."
The increase would generate $130M a year. Sayles Belton:
"If we want the public to feel good about this, they've got
to see something more than just the stadium." Sayles Belton
also proposed a $.12 per-pack cigarette-tax increase to fund
the ballpark, which she said could produce about $40M a
year. Previously, a proposed $.10 per-pack increase by MN
Gov. Arne Carlson "died early in the legislative session."
Weiner writes that legislators "long have sought a firmer
commitment" from the city and its business community on the
Twins stadium issue (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/26).
