Lino Lakes council rejects citizen vote on stadium sales tax

12/13/2005

Star Tribune
Staff Report
Last update: December 12, 2005 at 11:43 PM

The Lino Lakes City Council rejected a resolution Monday night that called for a citizen vote on a proposed sales tax to help pay for a Vikings stadium complex in Anoka County.

The resolution fell by a vote of 3-2, with Council Members Jeff Reinert and Dan Stoltz and Mayor John Bergeson voting against it. Members Caroline Dahl and Donna Carlson voted to support the resolution.

“I think it was unfortunate. ... The City Council did not support the citizen’s right to vote,” said Rhonda Sivarajah, an Anoka County board member in favor of the resolution.

The resolution was the latest attempt by some elected officials and the citizen group Taxpayers Against an Anoka County Stadium to let voters decide whether they want to pay a ¾-of-a-cent sales tax for the proposed $560 million stadium complex in Blaine.

City councils in Centerville and Oak Grove passed similar resolutions, and the Ham Lake council discussed a resolution but tabled it.

The county’s stadium project manager, Steve Novak, has said the county intends to ask the Legislature to grant an exemption from the state law that requires a referendum on sales taxes.