Should baseball pay for sidewalks?

The Star Tribune is reporting that the Minneapolis City Council is split over who should pay for needed traffic improvements around the new Twins ballpark.

The fuss is over whether to charge the ballpark or use part of a one-time $9 million surplus the city has this year because of property tax revenue from its redevelopment projects. Mayor R.T. Rybak wants to use $3 million of the surplus to pay for traffic, bike, and pedestrian improvements, according to the Strib. The rest of the council has other ideas about where the money should come from -- like maybe the ballpark.

We understand the need for careful consideration when deciding what tax dollars should go where. But we think that no matter what they decide, the money needs to come from somewhere! There are few things that taxpayers complain more about than traffic. And there's nothing uglier than an angry fan stuck in traffic after his team has just lost the game.