Minn. Senate tax proposal includes sports gear tax

Published 10:43 am Thursday, April 11, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The state Senate’s new tax bill includes a sales tax hikes on pro sports memorabilia that’s gaining steam as a backup funding source for the Vikings stadium project.

Senate Democrats released a set of proposed major changes to sales tax policy on Thursday. It includes a 13-percent sales tax on licensed pro sports gear, including jerseys, caps and other clothes and sports items.

The House Taxes Committee reviewed a similar proposal Thursday, and one of Gov. Mark Dayton’s key stadium officials endorsed the plan.

Its House sponsor says the money is needed to help cover the state’s roughly one-third share of the new, $975 million Vikings stadium. Lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about lagging tax collections from electronic gambling that’s supposed to be the stadium’s main public funding source.