Negotiators in Minneapolis may be making progress on a menu of mostly local tax breaks for a Major League Soccer stadium, even though the proposal appeared dead Monday in the closing hours of the legislative session.
Minneapolis City Council Member Jacob Frey said city officials and representatives for Bill McGuire, the former UnitedHealth Group chief executive who wants to bring an MLS franchise to Minnesota, have outlined a package that would include a property tax break for the team.
Frey said a proposal — which he stressed has not been formally agreed upon — would include a freeze on property taxes on three land parcels near the Minnesota Twins' Target Field in downtown Minneapolis, where McGuire wants to build a soccer stadium. In addition, Frey said, the city would extend the city's entertainment and beverage tax district to include the land where the new stadium would be located.
"That's a significant" part of the proposal, Frey said. But "there's no [overall] agreement" yet.
"It's not a full property tax exemption," he added. Other parts of the proposal, he said, include requirements that McGuire's group commit to minority hiring, pay a living wage to employees and make the stadium available for some public use.
But with the Legislature scheduled to adjourn late Monday, it remained unclear how soon — or even whether — other aspects of a public subsidy package would come together, including possible taxpayer aid from Hennepin County.
Frey said that although the negotiations were generally being supported by other City Council members, there was not yet a firm commitment by a majority of the members.
The move nonetheless would be the first step to give McGuire's group a relatively modest public subsidy package to help build a $150 million soccer stadium. McGuire's group includes the Pohlad family, the owners of baseball's Minnesota Twins, and Glen Taylor, who owns the Star Tribune and basketball's Minnesota Timberwolves.