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Fredericksburg ballpark financing plan passes Virginia House

Hagerstown SunsThe Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill allowing Fredericksburg to recapture sales tax to help pay for a new Hagerstown Suns (Low Class A; Sally League) ballpark.

The Virginia Senate already passed the bill, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe is expected to sign it. From Frederickburg.com:

The “clawback” allows the locality to get 3.5 percentage points of the state sales tax revenues collected at the publicly owned stadium.

The financing plan for the 5,000-seat minor league stadium planned at Celebrate Virginia South for the Hagerstown Suns, as well as the adjacent fields that will be used for Diamond Nation softball and baseball tournaments, calls for the private sector to cover most of the development costs and be supported by tax incentives and fee waivers.

The city of Fredericksburg has agreed to develop the parking lot for the complex, but that cost is expected to be about $8 million compared with a private sector contribution that has been estimated at $29 million.

The new ballpark is expected to be ready for the 2015 season.

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