Let me say this to start, I bleed purple. One of my earliest football memories was going over to my uncle's house for a football party to watch the Vikings play in something called the Super Bowl back when I was 7 years old. I remember watching both Fran Tarkenton's and Jim Marshall's last games at Met Stadium. I went crazy when Ahmad Rashad caught Tommy Kramer's Hail Mary pass to beat the Browns in 1980. I've suffered through the Les Stekel year, Darrin Nelson's dropped pass in the end zone in 1987 and the Hershel Walker trade. I was at the NFC Championship in 98 and watched Randall Cunningham take a knee. I was humiliated by 41- doughnut in the 2000 NFC Championship. I had season tickets for years, until I got married and had a family and couldn't afford them anymore. I never fully embraced Favre, but got on the bandwagon only to be disappointed again by having 12 men on the field. I've got authentic Robert Smith and Daunte Culpepper jerseys hanging in my closet -- and I still HATE the new uniforms! Every fall I live and die with the Vikes, and have from Grant, Tark, Blair, and Studwell, to Browner, Doleman, McDaniel and Millard, to Carter and Moss, to Petersen, Harvin, Hutch and Winfield.
With that said, as a St. Paul resident and Ramsey County taxpayer I cannot and will not support the proposed Vikings stadium deal to build a $1B football palace in Arden Hills. Ramsey County Commissioners Rafael Ortega and Tony Bennett say they have the votes to impose a half cent sales tax on Ramsey County resdents to finance their "share" of the cost -- approximately $350 million. In St. Paul, that would push our sales tax to 8.125% -- making it the highest sales tax in the state. Looks like I'll be doing most of my shopping in Eagan from now on!
I've heard all of the arguments about "if we don't step to the plate and get a stadium deal done, the Vikings will leave." How many times did we hear that during the Twins debate over the last 15 years. Hennepin County ultimately added .15% to its county wide sales tax to fund Target Field. What's .5% here, and .15% there anyway? It all adds up, and what it means is that all those Vikings fans from around the state who are now backing this deal won't pay "their fair share," while those of us who live, work and shop in Ramsey County will get disproportionately fleeced on a daily basis.
This deal should have been put together with a combination of "user fees" such as ticket taxes, taxes on team jerseys and memorabilia, hotel taxes, liquor taxes, parking taxes and income taxes on player salaries -- with the team picking up the difference. The fact that it wasn't done with user fees shows that there wouldn't have been enough money there. Why is it that a billion dollar industry like the NFL needs a taxpayer funded subsidy?
My only hope at this point is that with a GOP controlled House and Senate, that this deal is DOA at the legislature this year. With the out of control spending at the Legislature, the last thing in the world we need is for the state to be spending $300 million on a Vikings stadium. Hopefully all the new GOP legislators will have the courage to just say No. It's time the taxpayers stare down these billionare owners and tell them we aren't going to be shaken down anymore.
Bennett and Ortega -- As a constituent in St. Paul, consider this a warning that we'll remember this at election time!
