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PHOENIX — Some Tucson lawmakers are already criticizing the new legislative proposal that could lead to a higher sales tax in Pima County to pay for baseball stadium construction and upgrades.

They say the tax would cost small businesses — such as those in the restaurant industry, which is opposing it — and that it would hit consumers when they're already hurting.

Some also question whether a new stadium is needed.

However, those pushing the measure, introduced just days ago, say Major League Baseball's spring-training presence in Southern Arizona may be lost for good if the Legislature doesn't act now.

If state lawmakers approve the proposal, Pima County residents would vote next year on whether to institute a three-quarter-cent sales tax on hotels, restaurants, bars and rental car agencies.

That's higher than the half-cent sales tax that was originally proposed.

Legislative approval would put a board in place immediately for a sports authority, which would determine the details of the plan and how the tax rate would be divided among those industries. Then, next March or April, voters would get their say.

A group representing the state's restaurants is planning to oppose the effort altogether.

But the lobbyist for the group leading the baseball effort — the Tucson-based Arizona Cactus League Coalition — is looking, most immediately, to keep the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies from moving their spring training elsewhere, as the Chicago White Sox already have done.

"The curtain is beginning to fall," group lobbyist Kevin DeMenna told the House Commerce Committee in a briefing Thursday. "We need to act in this legislative session because if we miss this cycle, it is very unlikely that Pima County Cactus League can be rebuilt from scratch."

The Pima County tax would generate an estimated $11 million to $14 million in annual revenues for baseball, a fact sheet drafted by the group says.

And supporters say Pima County's Stadium District could finance as much as $75 million in new facilities and renovations. Ten percent of the revenue would go to youth and amateur sports facilities, and the authority would sunset after 30 years.

However, if the county couldn't attract additional teams, the authority would dissolve after five years.

But as legislators grow eager to wrap up their 2008 session, Southern Arizona lawmakers are approaching the proposal with raised eyebrows.

"Your large hotels and restaurants are going to benefit from this, but I'm quite concerned about the neighborhood restaurants, the smaller mom-and-pops," said state Rep. Olivia Cajero Bedford, a Tucson Democrat. Larger venues could benefit from tourists attracted to Tucson for baseball.

Rep. Steve Farley, a Tucson Democrat, said he's already supporting another measure that would increase sales taxes statewide to pay for transportation. So this additional tax might hit Southern Arizona residents hard, he said.

"We should have done it in the early '90s, and then we wouldn't be watching the teams" move to Phoenix, Farley said. "I think this is people's attempt to try to make up for past wrongs, but I think it remains to be seen whether or not it is too late."

The potential tax is part of what's billed by supporters as an economic-stimulus package. Its other elements would:

● Give tax credits to companies that set up facilities in Arizona to manufacture components for solar products.

● Provide an exemption from state and local sales taxes for construction projects in certain "redevelopment" areas in cities.

● Expand existing tax credits given to companies that conduct their research and development activities in Arizona.

Some lawmakers indicated that tacking the proposal onto Maricopa County-targeted measures could be problematic.

"It's turning into a Christmas tree of a lot of things," said Rep. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson Republican. "I want to make sure if we do a stimulus that it stimulates the state and not just the wallets of some special interests."

And on the baseball issue specifically, Paton said, "I don't know that I'm comfortable with building a new stadium because we've already done that twice and we were promised both times that it was going to change life for the better. At some point, you have to fix what's broken rather than building something new."

Tucson's last attempt to attract baseball was the construction of Tucson Electric Park in 1998. It cost $38 million. That now pales in comparison with what other cities in the state are spending to attract and retain teams.

An $80 million Glendale stadium will house the Los Angeles Dodgers and the White Sox. In Goodyear, a $75 million stadium will house the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.

Maricopa County has its own sports authority that has helped to fund those projects by taxing hotel rooms and rental cars. But that system wouldn't generate enough money here without the taxes to bars and restaurants, proponents say.

Also, although the Pima County group had originally talked about a half-cent increase, estimates showed that wouldn't generate enough revenue, DeMenna said.

The Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, however, says such a plan could negatively impact businesses.

"You're lumping in a completely new industry that does not derive a majority of their funds from tourists," said the group's president and CEO, Steve Chucri.

DeMenna said that's why the authority would include industry representatives who would help decide details before the tax is presented to voters.

He said that he's aware of lawmakers' concerns, but that voters would get the last say. "It is debatable, and that's the reason it's never been anything more than a countywide vote," he said.