Whether the proposed Twins stadium would be built in Minneapolis or St. Paul is immaterial.

What does matter is that if a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins is indeed built using public funds -- and it appears its chances are better now than ever before -- the funds ought not to come out of the pockets of taxpayers in this area.

The proposal for the stadium in St. Paul would impose a 3 percent citywide tax on food, liquor and entertainment, and a $1 ticket tax at the ballpark. While the proposal by Hennepin County, which contains the city of Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, still hasn't come up yet, officials there also have talked about a tax on restaurants and car rentals.

Should these taxes go through, only by traveling to the Twin Cities would we be affected, since those who go there from here typically visit a bar or restaurant.

The tax may or may not impact our decision whether to spend a weekend in the Twin Cities, but then again, so would losing the Twins.