Gov. Mark Dayton believes Minnesotans should be able to see the detailed review he has requested of the Minnesota Vikings stadium financing.
"I think it should be public," Dayton said on Wednesday.
The state plans an investigative audit of the Vikings owners' financing of the $1 billion publicly subsidized project in the wake of a New Jersey civil court's findings that the Wilf family, which owns the Vikings, committed fraud in a long-running real estate case.
Dayton said he wants the audit to make sure that there is "absolute, airtight guarantee that they have the financial wherewithal to meet their obligations." He also said that he wants to make sure, given the New Jersey decision, that the Vikings representations of what they would pay are based on "accurate information."
The governor said that the stadium board has some money to pay for an audit and would like the Vikings to pay for any costs above that.
Dayton said, according his last report from stadium board chair Michele Kelm-Helgen, the Vikings had yet to agree to pay for part of the audit.
The question of who pays could be critical for a determination of whether the public will get to see the results of the investigation. But when asked, Dayton said on Tuesday, that he believes the results should be available to all.
