As the Vikings try to cut a deal for a new taxpayer-funded stadium in Minnesota, one of the sticking points was on the cost of road improvements needed for a new stadium. And that number somehow, almost as if by magic, was lowered to make it acceptable to the state legislature:
As the Vikings try desperately to finagle approval for a new stadium before the legislative sessions ends next week, the estimate for one key expense relating to the proposed site at Arden Hills has been revised significantly.
Per the Associated Press, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has reduced the anticipated cost of road improvements at the stadium site by $44 million, from $175 million to $131 million.
More on the process to get a deal done here. An excerpt:
But Ramsey County’s DFL Chairman Rod Halvorson and James Carson, Ramsey County’s GOP Fourth Congressional District chairman released a joint statement, calling the plan a “horrible agreement.”
Meanwhile, several lawmakers insisted they won’t talk about the stadium without a budget deal in place, and the prospects for that didn’t look good Wednesday with less than a week left in the session.
Did the bill have a shot? Commissioner Bennett thought so as did Senator Rosen.
“This thing could move fairly fast but we need to get a bill introduced first,” Rosen said. “It could get through by Sunday, if there’s agreement on everybody’s part,” Bennett added.
The $131 million would come out of the state’s proposed $300 million contribution toward the project. Governor Dayton insisted that number would not be raised, under any circumstances.