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Duluth officials outline $36 million athletic venues reinvestment plan, emphasize fixing existing assets first
Summary
City parks staff and consultants reviewed eligibility rules for the half-and-half tourism tax, listed priority athletic sites and said deferred maintenance and limited indoor capacity mean funding should first repair and secure existing venues before pursuing new indoor facilities.
City parks staff and a consulting team told the Duluth City Council’s Committee of the Whole that the city’s athletic-venues reinvestment initiative will prioritize repairing and maintaining existing parks-based athletic facilities and use an extended “half and half” tourism tax to pay debt on those improvements.
Eric Birkland, director of property, parks and libraries, opened the presentation and introduced senior parks planner Katie Bennett and parks and recreation manager Jessica Peterson, who reviewed the financing and eligibility criteria for the program. "The half and half tax refers to 2 existing taxes in Duluth," Peterson said, explaining that food, beverage and lodging taxes are classified under state law as tourism taxes and must be used in ways that support tourism.
The city’s litmus test for using the…
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