I posted this over at Market Power but it has much relevance for The Sports Economist.
From today’s St. Paul Pioneer Press:
Anoka County is ready to raise sales taxes to pay for a proposed Vikings stadium — without asking permission from voters.
That’s akin to taxation without representation, say stadium opponents.
“They aren’t asking us to pay for it. They are making us pay for it, and there’s a big difference,” said Burt Hanson of Anoka, a 65-year-old retiree who is involved in an anti-tax group that opposes the stadium-funding plan.
But there’s nothing illegal — or even especially unusual — about such taxes in Minnesota. As many other cities and counties have done, Anoka County could indeed approve a 0.75 percent sales-tax increase to fund its share of a Vikings stadium without a referendum, as long as the state Legislature gives its OK.
Of course there’s the requisite “economic impact” statement:
If the Vikings end up moving to a proposed $700 million stadium in Blaine, Novak said, voters will ultimately be pleased. That’s because officials forecast that an envisioned $1.5 billion multi-use complex would create about 6,000 new jobs and $20 million a year in additional property taxes.
If this is such a good thing, why aren’t the communities of Shakopee, Savage, Woodbury, and St. Paul battling Blaine for the rights to host the Vikes?
