St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman floated a plan last week to impose a 2-cents- per-drink liquor tax statewide to raise new revenue to finance a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis and a series of investments in other local sporting stadiums in St. Paul.
The plan, which also relies on a St. Paul sales tax hike and a citywide expansion of Minneapolis’ downtown sales tax, was panned by most major players in the ongoing stadium debate.
Under Coleman’s proposal, about $75 million of the new revenue would go to finance improvements to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, where the Minnesota Wild hockey team plays, in order to accommodate the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team that now plays at Minneapolis’ Target Center.
About $27 million of the new revenue would finance a new stadium for the minor league baseball team the St. Paul Saints.
