Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey is proposing an entertainment tax to help fund a new baseball stadium that he says could cost up to $120 million. City council members were briefed on the plan Thursday.

Financing for a new stadium would be a private/public split with much of the public money coming from a 2% entertainment tax on prepared food, drinks, movies, plays and parking in Omaha. The tax would raise an estimated $3 million a year.

Five months ago, city hall told us a new downtown stadium would cost more than $50 million. The mayor is now telling members of the city council it’s more like $95-$120 million.

"We were in there well over an hour-and-a-half." Councilman Garry Gernandt isn't likely to be swayed by any new stadium pitch since he helped organize the "Save Rosenblatt" group.

For him, this isn't a political decision. ”I was outnumbered, let's say about 11 to one, 11 people that are fighting like crazy to get this thing built and me in there to save Rosenblatt."

Mayor Fahey briefed the council in twos and threes, confident when the facts are known there's only one answer and that is to build the stadium.

"There are so many rumors out there right now, this is the first time we actually had a kind of an in dollar amount and the payment financing mechanism that we're contemplating installing," says Fahey, who does not want the tax put to a public vote.

That troubles at least one city councilman. "It's a real difficult decision for the city council because the public wants to vote on this, the public's not going to get a vote on this,” says Chuck Siegerson.

"The mayor pointed out to us that other cities want the College World Series. There is nothing sacred about us having this forever, so we need to be thinking, are we willing to sacrifice something to hang onto this College World Series for a very long period of time?"

“It's the mayors decision what the public’s going to see," says Siegerson. "Do we want to vote a 2% tax and if we pass that tax, the public's going to say this is a tax-and-spend-council and if we don't pass the tax, the mayor’s plan goes down the tube and we could possibly lose the College World Series."

Last month, the mayor announced the city and NCAA agreed on a plan to build a new stadium north of the Qwest Center and in return, the NCAA would extend the contract to keep the CWS in Omaha for up to an additional 20 years.

"I don't really have an opinion on that,” says Jeremy Jorgenson of Omaha. “I know you have to pay for that somehow as long as the revenues eventually build the community, I think that's great."

"We're one of the highest taxed states and I don't like it, but I want to keep Rosenblatt,” said another man. “It's closer to where I live, it's got a lot of, just a lot of ambiance about it, you know?"

The whole issue could hinge on Mayor Fahey's next pitch, to the public. He’s having a news conference Friday at 10:30 a.m.

It's unlikely he'll have firmer numbers by Friday for the cost of a new stadium. Much of that will be in the details of design which they don't yet have and how much the private donations will be, and that's anybody's guess.