Thursday is Tax Day. (It’s also four days from Joe Mauer’s birthday.) This year, instead of complaining about taxes, I’ve got a great idea how you can celebrate the services that taxes provide for us: Go see The House That Joe Built. I’m referring of course to Target Field, the most spectacular (and green!) ballpark in the nation. I can’t take credit for the nickname–I have to admit that I stole it from a fan’s sign I saw while watching the game yesterday.

Any self-respecting Twins fan probably has fond memories of the Metrodome. The knowledge that every game would be 69 degrees and overcast, opposing teams losing the ball in the roof, etc. But anyone who says they miss the Dome is seriously deluded. The point of this? On Thursday I’m going to be thanking taxes for the best MLB stadium in the country, Target Field.

In 2006, the Hennepin County Board voted to levy a 0.15% sales tax within the county to fund Target Field, according to the TC Daily Planet. The money from the sales tax doesn’t just find Target Field, however. I’ll also be thanking taxes on Thursday for longer hours and more open days at thirteen Hennepin County public libraries and local youth sports programs.

WCCO‘s Pat Kessler reports that up to $2 million of the stadium sales tax every year must be used to keep public libraries open longer. They’re called Ballpark Sundays and Mondays. Thanks to the stadium sales tax, 18 projects to build, repair, renovate, or expand sports facilities have been given the green light. These include Bloomington’s Red Haddox Baseball Field Improvement Project, tee-ball fields in Corcoran, and field lights in St. Anthony Village.

So whenever you get a chance to take in the awesome spectacle that is Target Field (you could go tomorrow or Thursday afternoon against the Red Sox), be sure to thank taxes. The same goes for the next time you head to a Hennepin County library or a youth sports facility. When you do, make sure to download your own "Thank Taxes" sign and upload it here.

 

Photo credit: Flickr