Bloomington officials started a campaign this month to persuade voters to support a 0.5% sales tax, with a city website explaining how the money would be spent and arguing that visitors would pay the bulk of the tax.
The Minnesota Legislature this session gave Bloomington and several other cities permission to ask their voters for sales taxes. Voters would have to approve the tax in a November referendum.
In Bloomington, the tax would finance $155 million in city borrowing to fund three projects: upgrades to the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail; a renovation of the Bloomington Ice Garden; and a new "community health and wellness center" to replace the Creekside Community Center and the Bloomington Public Health building, which also serves Richfield and Edina.
