Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Rep. Agbaje backs bill to expand Minneapolis downtown tax boundary, recoup roughly $62 million from stadium funding
Loading...
Summary
House File 4361 would add the North Loop to Minneapolis's downtown taxing boundary, eliminate one obligation that directed excess revenue to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority and free an estimated $62,000,000 through 2046 for city-owned downtown assets; the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the 2026 tax bill.
Representative Agbaje presented House File 43-61 to the committee on behalf of the City of Minneapolis, proposing to expand the city's downtown taxing boundary to include the North Loop and to end a provision that directs excess revenue from downtown taxes to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA). The representative said the change would allow the city to "recoup approximately $62,000,000 until about 2046" and use those funds for downtown assets the city owns rather than for the state-owned US Bank Stadium.
The measure, introduced as amended with an author's amendment (DE2) that the committee adopted by voice vote, also includes language to allocate $7,000,000 from the Minnesota Ford Fund to the city of Chaska to help attract PGA tournaments. Angie Skildom, director of the development finance team in Minneapolis's finance department, told the committee the downtown taxing boundary was established in 1986 and said updating it would better reflect where restaurants, venues and lodging operate today. "The expansion of this boundary will also help the city to address what has been a 20% decline in our downtown property values," Skildom said.
Skildom described how two local-option taxes—a 3% liquor tax and a 3% restaurant tax—apply only inside the downtown area under current state statute, meaning similar venues a few blocks apart can face different tax treatment. Representative Johnson asked whether including the North Loop would raise the tax rate for businesses there; the committee confirmed the special downtown taxes apply to items such as food, beverage and lodging and that the district's additional rate is 3%.
Representative Hewitt raised oversight concerns about the MSFA and how public dollars have been used, saying he had served terms on that authority and criticized boards that he said fail to meet their oversight responsibilities. "I am sick and tired of these fake boards out there that we apparently are part in this," Hewitt said, urging more legislative scrutiny of public expenditures for stadiums. Chair Davids said he supported portions of the amendment that would promote PGA championship events but cautioned that the current funding mechanism is not agreed to and that the city's maintenance commitments to the stadium should be preserved.
Representative Agbaje said the bill does not change the city's first three obligations related to the stadium—which he said amount to more than $500,000,000 over the next 20 years—and stressed the proposal only eliminates the fourth obligation that had directed excess revenues to the MSFA. After discussion the committee laid House File 43-61 as amended over for possible inclusion in the 2026 tax bill.
The bill will return for further consideration as authors and committee leadership work on funding language and oversight concerns raised during the hearing.
