Legislation to boost baseball in the ‘Burg?

Legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly this past week could help bring minor league baseball to Fredericksburg.

State legislators voted to add Fredericksburg to the list of Virginia localities allowed to retain a portion of sales and use taxes generated by a public facility to help pay off the bonds issued to build the facility.

Among the public facilities allowed under the legislation is a “sports facility that is designed for use primarily as a baseball stadium for a minor league” team. Auditoriums, coliseums, convention centers and certain types of hotels also fall under the legislation.

City officials aren’t revealing much about what they have in mind or whether they would pursue the bond financing allowed by this week’s legislation. Fredericksburg City Council held a closed session recently to discuss “a prospective outdoor commercial recreation business.”

A group that has been working to bring minor league baseball to the Fredericksburg area, Rappahannock Baseball Initiative LLC, has called the recent legislation helpful to the effort.

See more about this story in Sunday’s Free Lance-Star and on Freelancestar.com.

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