INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts and the state stadium authority have reached a tentative agreement on a development deal for a new retractable-roof stadium -- a deal that would clear the way for construction -- members of the authority told RTV6 Wednesday morning.

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Slideshow: Proposed Colts Stadium

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The deal, which the authority could approve during a meeting Thursday afternoon, does not prohibit a $3 ticket tax that the Colts have strongly opposed. However, state budget leaders believe the tax won't be needed and have assured Colts owner Jim Irsay that they don't intend to impose it, RTV6's Norman Cox reported.

Ryan Kitchell, the state's public finance director, said the stadium can be built without the tax, "with a few qualifiers."

"That assumes that we come in on time, on budget, and that interest rates stay approximately where they are today between now and when we're able to close the financing," Kitchell said.

The development deal covers stadium design and the final financial package, Cox reported.

Legislators had wanted to impose the tax to make game attendees shoulder some of the construction costs. The tax was one of the sticking points that forced lease negotiations to go through August, well past the initial target date for groundbreaking.

The Colts and Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board agreed on a 30-year lease last week. The lease doesn't require the tax.

The Colts have hoped that the new, 63,000-seat stadium will be open for the start of the 2008 NFL season.

Earlier this year, state, team and Indianapolis officials hoped to break ground on the project Aug. 1. That date was moved back because a lease deal was not made in time.