Earlier today, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson submitted plans for three different Vikings stadiums to Governor Mark Dayton and legislative leaders.

These three plans include detailed financing plans for each of the potential “People’s Stadiums.”  In addition to funding a potential Vikings stadium, each plan also secures funding for renovations to the Target Center and the Minneapolis Convention Center. The proposed plans were equal or less than the proposed Arden Hills site.

The three possible Minneapolis sites include: Linden Avenue, the Farmers Market, and Downtown east.

“We’re shifting the burden from the narrow base of Minneapolis property-tax payers to the broader and fairer base of people who visit, work, live, or spend money in Minneapolis,” Rybak said.

Rybak and Johnson offered two separate options for financing each stadium site. The first is a citywide 0.35 percent sales tax, along with a one percent lodging tax.  The second option includes revenues from a proposed casino at Block E. This option charges five percent of the casino’s gross revenues through 2020 and then charges three percent of gross revenues after 2020. The casino would also have to pay a $20 million license fee.

“We’re tried and tested in Minneapolis: we know how to do this, far better than anyone else,” Johnson said.