Vikings stadium plan gets past major hurdle

One of the final hurdles in starting construction a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings was cleared on Thursday when the Minneapolis City Council voted 7-6 to approve a plan that would fund the facility using redirected sales taxes, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

The Council still has to ratify the decision on Friday.

Thursday's vote was a victory for Mayor R.T. Rybak, and the proposal did not have enough votes until Council Member Sandy Colvin Roy switched her position and supported the plan.

The plan calls for Minneapolis to finance its portion of the stadium using a citywide sales tax, downtown restaurant and liquor taxes and a hotel tax.