Advocates, We learned something since yesterday, namely that HB1198 (to allow more sales tax for new city projects) comes up on Thursday. So contacts are needed to the committee members who will vote on Thursday. Urge them to oppose this bill.

The news of the hearing comes from the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, a big supporter of HB1198. They want 1% more sales tax for an event center. (Other cities might want to raise sales tax for their new projects.) They put out legi contact info (copied below) to their members.

Please urge Rep’s to OPPOSE HB1198, because it would be problematic for the cost of living to go up, which would happen if cities raise sales tax. I personally think it would be morally wrong to charge the poor and middle class for large portions of the cost of a place of entertainment.

HB1198 says the tax hike would be temporary. But it does not prevent a city from thinking of one project after another.
It requires a local vote for the project and accompanying tax hike. But we know low- and middle-income people would not be able to mount the kind of advertising campaign that project enthusiasts could. And low-and middle-income people have a harder time getting information except from advertising and getting to the polls.
It says cities could have a refund program, if they choose. We know about refund programs! No matter how generous and simple, refund programs miss people, often lots of them. If the idea is that basic necessities should not be taxed, then let’s not tax them in the first place.
Cities do not often admit it, but there are other ways to raise funds. In the case of the event center, the city could be asking for a higher allowable bed-board-booze tax (BBB). If not such a hurry to pay off the building (3-4 years), they could build an event center mostly with 2% more on BBB, supplemented with some private fundraising (donations, naming rights, ticket fees, luxury suite fees, etc).

Here is nifty Legi Contact info (from the Sioux Falls Chamber):
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On Thursday, Feb. 11, the House Local Government Committee will take up the Local Option Sales and Use Tax increase - HB 1198. Here is your chance to be part of the process. We have included a list of those who are on the committee. It is usually most effective to contact your local representative or senator; however, if you personally know others on the committee your contact to them can be very powerful.

Here is a listing of all those who are on this particular committee (just click on their names to send them an email):
Mark Kirkeby (Chair, represents Pennington County)
Val Rausch (Vice Chair, represents Brookings, Deuel, Grant and Moody counties)

**Sioux Falls area legislators**:
•  Jim Bolin lives in Canton and represents Lincoln and Union counties. His phone number is 987-2630.
•  Blake Curd lives in Sioux Falls and represents Lincoln and Minnehaha counties. His phone number is 321-0121 while in Pierre and 339-8918 in Sioux Falls.
•  Dan Lederman lives in Dakota Dunes and represents Lincoln and Union counties. His phone number is 712-251-1992.
•  Darrell Solberg lives in Sioux Falls and represents Lincoln and Minnehaha counties. His phone number is 361-2475.
•  Martha Vanderlinde lives in Sioux Falls and represents Minnehaha County. Her phone number is 201-7427.

Other legislators on the committee include (we’ve linked their names to their email addresses):
•  Justin Cronin lives in Gettysburg and represents seven area counties.
•  Dennis Feickert represents Brown and McPherson counties
•  Justin Frerichs represents Day, Marshall and Roberts counties
•  Betty Olson represents Butte, Corson, Harding, Meade and Perkins counties
•  Fred Romkema represents Lawrence County
•  Tim Rounds represents Hughes, Stanley and Sully counties

9 Thoughts on “City Sales tax increase to go to a committee vote on Thursday

  1. Please contact the committee members, telling them to vote no on the authority to increase taxes.

    Tell them how Colorado Springs is coping with revenue shortfalls – cutting expectations and services. Turn off some street lights, cut the grass in parks every two weeks, plant native grass, flowers and plants and stop watering parks, cut bloated police and fire departments, forcing swimming pools to close or go private, etc.

    “Community business leaders have jumped into the budget debate, some questioning city spending on what they see as “Ferrari”-level benefits for employees and high salaries in middle management. Broadmoor luxury resort chief executive Steve Bartolin wrote an open letter asking why the city spends $89,000 per employee, when his enterprise has a similar number of workers and spends only $24,000 on each.”

    http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14303473

  2. Plaintiff Guy on February 6, 2010 at 2:03 pm said:

    Good sampling and comparison John2.

    Sorry, taxes must not be raised in a slow economy. Par nationally is now 43% tax on income (average per citizen). Throughout US history, that’s peak. The middle class pays more. The rich pay less.

    If there’s shortfall, government can make cuts like private business has. There’s no reason the city can’t cut 30% starting with 20% of employees.

  3. redhatterb on February 6, 2010 at 9:36 pm said:

    I just did my duty and finished emailing each of them. I know other people that are against this but they are too lazy to pick up the phone and call the people or email them.

  4. Thank You Red for doing that. Email and tell me how many get back to you by Thursday. I would curious.

  5. redhatterb on February 7, 2010 at 6:25 am said:

    I’ve already heard back from Martha Vanderlinde. She said at this TIME she is inclined to vote against it. Also that her district is a poor district and that this tax is regressive. I’m not quoting her exactly. I’m impressed because the time on her email was 5:20AM, which basically means she wrote sometime between the time I sent it which was fairly late and when I logged on about 7:00AM. I’ll keep you informed, it will be interesting to see. I used the insert from the Argus of 12/7/09 for some of the email addresses and the rest I looked up the legislature and sent them emails from what I found on that site. Where theres a will, theres a way. It’s too bad I know so many lazy people.lol

  6. I knew Vanderlinde was against the increase. Lederman was on ‘The FACTS’ today and he sounded like he was for the increase, but hard to tell.

  7. Mike C on February 8, 2010 at 6:14 am said:

    I did contact my delegation to Pierre, I have asked for a time limit between votes. If the voters said no once, don’t come back a few weeks later and ask again.

    I have also asked for a time limit between projects.
    Not one project after another.

    IMHO all taxes and tax increases should be subject to a public vote. It’s our money we should have a say how much we pay, and how it is used

  8. redhatterb on February 9, 2010 at 8:22 pm said:

    So far Rep. Vanderlinde is the only one that I have heard back from. I didn’t expect to hear back from any of them. I guess I should have mentioned to Dr. Curd that he is in my district, but didn’t think about doing that. There is one day left for some of them to get in gear. lol

  9. I hate to break you the news Red, but politicians become politicians to promote THEIR agenda, not ours.

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