ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota Vikings executive warned Wednesday that delaying until next year a state legislature vote on financing for a new stadium would increase the project's already hefty cost and would leave the football franchise without a lease binding it to Minnesota.
Brain
Vice President Lester Bagley reaction came to newly voiced opposition from House Speaker Kurt Zellers to an emergency session. Zellers told his 71 GOP colleagues in an email Tuesday night that the issue should wait until lawmakers convene the 2012 session in late January.
Bagley stopped short of saying the team would pull up stakes, but noted that after this season the Vikings "will be the only team without a lease."
"The strategy of avoiding a stadium issue has not worked. It only gets more costly and more difficult to resolve, especially if they allow the lease to expire with no action," Bagley told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
The Vikings have four remaining home games in their Metrodome lease. Whispers of relocation have been present throughout the stadium discussion, but there has been little outward recruiting of the Vikings by Los Angeles or other cities seeking an NFL presence.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has said he is prepared to call a special session this month or next on the stadium. But a financing plan remains undefined.
The Vikings have sought a replacement for the Metrodome for years, saying the Minneapolis venue is no longer sufficiently profitable. The team prefers building a new facility in the St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills but Minneapolis leaders are promoting three sites of their own.
Such a project is expected to cost between $900 million and $1.1 billion depending on where it gets built. The team wants taxpayers to shoulder more than half of the cost. Bagley said winning authorization this year would enable builders to start a 40-month construction schedule sooner and have the stadium ready for the 2015 season. Delaying construction adds $50 million per year, according to a consultant's estimate.
Dayton hoped to speak with Zellers about the timing for a special session, the governor's spokesman said.
Michael Brodkorb, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, said she also wanted to confer with the House speaker before commenting. She has previously been open to a fall special session.
Dayton doesn't need the Legislature's consent to call a special session, but lawmakers determine how long it lasts once they're back in St. Paul. Governors typically avoid calling a session without mutual agreement on an agenda.
The state leaders have met frequently about how to structure a public subsidy. Dayton plans to release his own proposal next week.
One possible option fell away when Dayton and lawmakers effectively ruled out new local sales taxes to pay for a share of the expected stadium cost. They said a sales tax lacks the votes to pass the Legislature unless a public referendum is required; the earliest a referendum could be held is November 2012 and the Vikings oppose one.
Discussions in recent days have focused on expanded gambling. There are several possibilities: authorizing a new casino in downtown Minneapolis; adding video slot machines at two horse-racing tracks near the Twin Cities; allowing bars and restaurants to shift from offering paper pull-tab gambling cards to electronic ones; and selling themed scratch-off lottery tickets.
The pull-tab plan, which also envisions a bingo component, appears to have the most traction. Legislative researchers estimate it would raise up to $42 million a year.
"I think the electronic pull-tabs probably has the most promise at this point in terms of drawing enough support in the Legislature," Dayton said. "My sense is that's probably the most immediately available and plausible source right now."
Another possible approach would be to divert money from the state's "Legacy" sales tax, which was approved by voters in 2008 to dedicate money to arts and cultural programs, outdoor preservation and clean water initiatives. Dayton said that would not be his preferred approach but that he is not ready to rule it out either.
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Associated Press writer Patrick Condon contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
Comments (17)
Add commentConfident of re-election in 2012
Zellers must be pretty confident of his re-election in 2012.
Just because a billionaire
Just because a billionaire made a bad BUSINESS DECISION doesn't mean we should waste taxpayer money bailing him out. They could always renew their current lease at the Metrodome.
The ONLY reason they won't renew the current lease is because it doesn't make enough PROFIT.
That's not OUR problem.
There are plenty of places that we can invest that money and get a better return on our investment.
what do you do
when that revenue producer is gone and is producing/ spending it in another state, fish?
$300 million pride subsidy
The only benefit we will see from this investment is the pride we get from having them here.
It would be a far better investment to give that money to Ford to modernize the Ranger plant and keep 2000+ jobs here full time year round.
But that would be a corporate subsidy and we don't do that.
FISH IS RIGHT ...
... could not have said it better... and so is Zellers, to call a special session when there is no proposed legislation to approve? Stupid. Dayton seems to have tied the legacy of his one term in office to writing a huge welfare check to Wilf. What gives, Markie boy, in a era when we all need to make spending cuts you want to give public funds to this billionaire? You are a disgrace to your family and an embarrassment to the rest of us.
Dayton is covering his bases
Note his news release saying that the GOP refused to negotiate on this issue. Now all the "Let's keep the Vikes" people cannot blame Gov. Dayton. = Very Smart.
I am unwilling to use taxpayer dollars for corporate welfare when our schools are not getting the funding they were promised. Not Fair.
Lost Income, Increased Expenses
The Vikings will be without a Lease holding them in a bad stadium in a small market after this season.
If management, for some odd reason, decides to move the team to a larger market in a new stadium what specific cuts are we going to make in the Minnesota budget?
The state would lose more than $10 million in annual tax revenue. Also, the public would still own the Metrodome without a major tenant. The Vikings provide about $15 million annually to the upkeep of the Metrodome. Most expenses would not disappear with the loss of a major tenant.
We as a state will need to decide where this $25 million will come from every single year. I only hope the Republican controlled congress doesn't take more from education and health. But, we need to know what we are willingly giving up and be prepared to handle the economic realities.
Also, Fish, stop avoiding my question. What was the bad business decision?
The state would lose more than $10 million ...
... we should give Ziggy $100's of millions because we don't want to lose $10 million in annual state revenue ... HUH ??!!
$10M is a pittance in terms of what MN collects in tax receipts. Cutting $10M in spending to offset this loss is child's play.
As far as the Metrodome, no need to spend $15M annually for upkeep; raze it and sell the property. Or ... better yet raze it and let the Wall Street protesters live there.
Long term item, change over the past 24 hours...
It appears there is NOT unity among Zellers Fellers...
News has it there is now movement again...
Many of his colleagues are hearing from their voters and it's to keep the team in the State.
This is a long term decision for a large region of at least 5 states...(MN, ND, SD, IA, and even WI).
There was some chatter about becoming Packers fans once again. No, no, major league no.
@lendad
Thanks for that.
You obviously do not understand reality, but that is ok. You are not alone.
$10 million this year amortized at the NFL 20 average of 8% increases over the life of a 30 year lease is well over a Billion dollars in just personal income tax receipts from players. Fools like you complain about where other people's money is spent, but you, as an obvious noncontributing member of society, need to learn about conceptualizing big pictures.
It's neat that you use words like 'raze' as a solution for what to do with the Metrodome, but what about the thousands of high school kids who descend on it annually for sports tournaments? What about the thousands of healthy Minnesotans who use it weekly during the winter to run and rollerblade to stay fit in our brutal winters? Should we tell them to shove it because you can't see big pictures?
It's funny you call the Vikings direct contributions to the State a pittance. The revenue they generate is more than they are asking for from the public.
lendad and fish
How does the state benefit over the next 30 years if we do not put the money up and they leave town? Give us some numbers and change our minds why we shouldnt give them a stadium. You read these forums enough to know what the state benefits from having the vikes in MN, now let us know how they benefit when they are gone. Here is what happens when we dont give them a stadium, Mr. Wilf sells the team at a huge profit(good business decision) to a group most likely in the LA area because they are willing to give the owners what they want because they know what they have lost by not having a NFL team in their market. Minnesota after ten years and loss of hundreds of millions of revenue dollars fights to get another NFL team. The state then is willing to give the owners what they want because they now need the revenues generated by a NFL team (ask LA) and then pay for a higher % of the stadium and the 1 billion dollar stadium becomes a 3 billion dollar stadium. Now I agree that the NFL owners should do it on their own, but until all other markets are not willing to help it is not gonna happen, lets face reality here.
rubbyk, that money could be
rubbyk, that money could be invested in higher education giving us a far better return than if it was handed out as wilfare.
JohnBrown, if you read my post you'd have the answer to your question. or you could just keep asking me over and over and over... Your choice.
There's nothing (except reduced profit) stopping the leeches from financing their own stadium is there? Insuring that they make a profit on their BAD BUSINESS decision is not our responsibility.
They knew that they were going to play in the Metrodome but they still did the deal. Not OUR problem.
It's also not our job to subsidize Rubbyk's entertainment.
rubbyk, that money could be
rubbyk, that money could be invested in higher education giving us a far better return than if it was handed out as wilfare.
JohnBrown, if you read my post you'd have the answer to your question. or you could just keep asking me over and over and over... Your choice.
There's nothing (except reduced profit) stopping the leeches from financing their own stadium is there? Insuring that they make a profit on their BAD BUSINESS decision is not our responsibility.
They knew that they were going to play in the Metrodome but they still did the deal. Not OUR problem.
It's also not our job to subsidize Rubbyk's entertainment.
fish
I will be entertained either way I have cable, its call NFL package on direct tv. So if you had 300 million and could turn in it into billions over the next 30 years you would not do it? As a tax payer I think this is a great investment for the state. You talk education, you think maybe the billions of dollars may pay for that education, then the state still recieve taxes from the vikings and the return they get from higher education. Now answer my question how does the state benefit by losing the vikings? I know you will not answer this because you do not like the answer, so I will do it for you. THEY DON'T BENEFIT BY LOSING THE VIKINGS other markets have already proved this. Time to face reality you don't give them what they want they make good business decisions by moving their business elsewhere where they do get what they want.
one other thing fish
Name all the bad business decisions the NFL has made to make them such poor running business. NFL a bad business decision making company and their profits prove this statement. You do not know the first thing there is to know about running a successful business.
Timings to Arden Hills - Deer Camp Trek
I had the pleasure today to record the timings to Arden Hills for the Lakes Region...These were done Friday Morning and at the posted speed limit.
Elk River - 30 minutes
Zimmerman - 40 minutes
Princeton - 45 minutes
Pierz - 90 minutes
Brainerd - 2 hours
Believe me folks, a new venue in Minneapolis would add a huge amount of time navigating traffic, and won't have any tailgating opportunity.
Seems the Minneapolis politicians keep forgetting this one itzy bitzy item...tailgating like the most favorite venues like Lambeau Field in Wisconsin. I forget, they can't do tailgating in Minneapolis. Doesn't exist, not even possible.
Darn.
JohnBrown
Your arrogance evidently causes you to insult those who disagree with you. I feel sorry for you and for your family. God's peace.