We all knew that Governor Mark Dayton was favoring a potential new Minnesota Vikings stadium in Minneapolis, over the site at Arden Hills in Ramsey County. Dayton's demand that they have to match the Vikings' private contribution of over $400 million effectively sealed the deal for Minneapolis, because it looks like Ramsey County will have an awful lot of trouble making it up. The Pioneer Press said that Ramsey Country would need a Hail Mary to come back and get the site, and it's absolutely true.
There's no clear avenue of funding right now, and with time running out, it's more than likely that focus will immediately shift to the Minneapolis sites at the Metrodome and Linden Avenue. Every funding plan set forth by Ramsey County has been shot down by the St. Paul City Council or the mayor's office. It's hard to feel as though the Vikings are getting the short end of the stick when Dayton essentially eliminated Arden Hills, because Ramsey County can't even agree on some kind of funding internally to present to Dayton and the team.
It's hard to actually see something getting done in Ramsey County. Anything that could potentially surface as a funding plan is almost immediately thrown out. When something feasible comes up, it's effectively killed by the fact that it will have to go to a public vote, which will be a huge delay and stands the chance of being voted down. It doesn't matter what the paper says, if it's a new tax, the votes will check the "no," box every time.
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