The Associated Press

TULSA (AP) - The Tulsa Drillers are a step closer to getting a new $60 million stadium here after city councilors voted to renew and increase the rate of a downtown assessment district to fund it.

"This represents the best of Tulsa — the leadership of the council, the community leadership all planting seeds for the next generation of Tulsans," Mayor Kathy Taylor said of Thursday's 6-3 vote. "This fall a new ballpark will be under construction, and in 2010, our Tulsa Drillers will be playing in a new ballpark in downtown Tulsa," she said.

Taylor has said approval of the assessment district is essential to completing the city's contract with Drillers owner Chuck Lamson.

The deadline for exclusive negotiating rights with the Drillers ends Tuesday. After that, the Colorado Rockies' Double-A affiliate could seek an alternate site for a new stadium, including in suburban Jenks.

The measure passed with an amendment clarifying that a trust that will be created to oversee the ballpark and its finances can't incur debt for which the city would be liable.

The estimated $60 million stadium is proposed to be placed in the historic Greenwood District, once known as Black Wall Street and the site of the 1921 Tulsa race riots.

Private donors, including mayor Taylor and her husband, will provide $30 million of the funding; $25 million will come from the assessment district; and $5 million will come from the Drillers' lease of the new facility.

Other private donors, who have given $100,000 to more than $7.5 million, include the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Warren Foundation, Bank of Oklahoma, and Oneok, according to responses to 30 questions submitted by City Councilor Bill Martinson about ballpark details and financing.

The response to the question about donors noted that some asked to remain anonymous, and omits specific donation amounts.