The mayor’s capital plan is finally available online (see the full document here).
Here are some parts I cherry picked;
Notice he has set aside almost $8 million for projects voters have REJECTED – TWICE! Looks like he is going to let the council approve these projects and sidestep the voters. Very unwise to thumb the voters. He has also tried to mislead the voters on the Events Center funding;
We all know there isn’t a snowball chance in Hell that the EC is only going to cost $110 million. He also misleads the public with this statement;
I brought this up last week during the City Council meeting, utility and recreation rates being increased is NEW and HIGHER taxes. They are shifting infrastructure costs over to rates and out of the 2nd penny in order to fund the EC. THAT IS A TAX INCREASE. PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
He just said in the meeting that the rec projects will not move forward unless it is a private/public partnership. Kinda like the Junior Football fields that have yet to contribute to our partnership with them. I highly suggest that the private club sports build their facilites without the help of public money. We have been down this road already, the public always gets caught holding the bag in the end. Not to mention, if public money is intertwined with private money, the city will have restrictions on their operations. Do the private club sports want to to deal with those restrictions?
tax = everybody pays, use it or not.
fee = only actual users pay.
fee =/= tax.
The sports clubs should provide their own facilities. If they fund part of the event center with the 2nd pennys sales tax, that is still taxes, paid by tax payers.
Credit Card Mayor says ‘Charge It’ for the EC. He needs the miles for another same day Leer to the Super Bowl. $110M is low. It’ll cost $300M but $400M with cost overruns and inflation. Amortized over 20 years, it’s a billion. No wonder Dave is upset. He doesn’t want the family name associated with corrupt city government.
If we can bond $110M with no tax increases and with all previously scheduled projects, that also means that, without it, we could LOWER taxes. I think it’s hilarious that Huether has just brushed the “private donors” issue under the table, now that Billion and Nyberg have publicly said the Arena site is why they wouldn’t contribute.
Think how much we could do in this city with $110M. An events center (especially by the Arena) is nowhere near the most effective way to use this sort of money. If the goal is to improve the economic health of the city, why not improve public transportation and streetscapes in the central part of town to entice more urban, mixed-use development? Instead we throw more and more money into sprawl and parking lots, and neglect the core neighborhoods.
The recereation centers should absolutely be included in the CIP. These centers are centered around the wellness of our kids which is desperately needed in the colder months. I know it’s hard to imagine if you do not have kids – but these centers need to happen. And unlike the EC – the private groups ARE actually raising private dollars. These centers are a perfext mix of the way it should be done. When Mayor Munson tried to pass the rec center, it was porly, poorly done. There was absolutely no education component done. The louder people – such as Theresa Stehly – granted the community their wish of the tragedy we have at Drake Springs now. Too small, used 10 weeks out of the year, and half the land sits empty. Was that a good use of money? I don’t think so, but at least with the rec centers, they can be used year around and a bonus is they generate millions for our city when they host tournaments. I don’t think people have any idea how much money leaves our city EVERY weekend for swimming, hockey, tennis, etc. Those are the dollars we need being spent at hotels, restaurants, shopping, the Falls – whatever, and it is at no bother or cost to us. I am absolutely for these rec centers and I have no problem with the city contributing when these people are willing to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Alice – Just think of how much money the club sports could raise for themselves if they keep these facilities private? You say it is a crackerjack idea that will be successful? Right? Then why are the club sports not doing these places on their own? I’m all for the city contributing such as tif’s, construction cost tax breaks, less zoning restrictions, etc., I just don’t think we should be subsidizing these facilities. You said it yourself, they are needed, it’s time for the private club sports to put their money where their mouths are and prove it. As for Drake Springs, get over it already, the voters spoke. It is the most popular outdoor pool in the city. You are right, it is too small, but that has nothing to do with Stehly, the city cut it’s funding and scaled it back, I am assuming because of sour grapes.
The best projects when kids are involved are when private and city come together so it is used by all. We expect the private groups to raise all of the money, but then the city and you and I all benefit from the tax revenue when they bring tournaments to town? I don’t think so. Be more open-minded and forward thinking to the community as a whole. Not as a person that maybe doesn’t support or care about these centers personally. Another example would be the soccer fields. SF Parks & Rec maintains and grooms them, but Dakota Alliance utilizes and brings the tournaments to town that benefit ALL of us in the end. As far as Drake Spings, it is nothing to get over. It was a debacle to begin with from Mayor Munson and now it is somewhere I rarely send my kids because they will spend 75% of their time either in line or sitting on a tube in the lazy river – hence lazy. There was really no shot taken at Stehly – she was just the loudest and I will always feel that with the climate we live in – Drake Springs was a mistake.
“We expect the private groups to raise all of the money”
WHAT!!?! The Junior Football association has yet to pony up their share of the new fields that they promised. Taxpayers are paying interest and principal on that bond already while we sit and wait for their portion. Private groups should raise ALL the money then they can benefit from the revenue. Call me crazy but there is nothing wrong with applying capitalism to recreation. Wild Water West, I assume makes a profit or they would have been closed years ago.
“I rarely send my kids because they will spend 75% of their time either in line or sitting on a tube in the lazy river – hence lazy.”
Thanks for proving my point, most popular pool in town.
I just noticed how Huether listed “Does not depend on private funding for construction” as a pro of his plan. Well played, Mr. Mayor.
One thing that always makes me nervous is that the EC financing plan ASSUMES a “moderate” growth on sales tax revenues of 3%, 4%, and finally 5%. 5% economic growth is not moderate, it is quite high!
If the current recession has taught us anything, it should be that it’s VERY dangerous to assume perpetual growth always and forever, and then use those assumptions to fund questionable ventures. If the economy dips again (or it continues to grow, just not as fast as 4 or 5%) then the difference to pay off the bonds comes out of funds already planned to be spent on something else. There are only two outcomes from that: raising taxes, or cutting current spending. Which is exactly what Huether is PROMISING will not happen.
Tom – Well played yourself. The Devil is in the details. I saw his growth projections also and just shook my head. You are also right, if those projections don’t hit, we end up spending the few dollars we have in the 2nd penny on paying back a bond instead of better roads and parks, for a place that only a few will use. I still think that there is a better funding solution. Not sure what that is, but bonding is dangerous in this economic climate.
l3wis – I don’t know a ton on junior football – so I cannot comment. I will say this – the city should not give a dime until the pivate organizations have a specific portion raised and in the bank.
My number one questions when I saw this plan for the EC was “where are the private dollars?” This plan is to include a fourth of the costs in private donations. Where are they? This plan is DOA. It was a bad plan in a bad location and I will not strap my kids with the deficit or the debt that will still be there 22 years from now. Only an egomaniac would actually thing this plan would pass.
If these sports arenas are supposed to contribute to the health of the kids, what about all the kids that can’t afford to use them? Healthy kids are the responsibility of the parents—-kick them outside to play instead of watching TV and/or playing video games. When I was a kid the only organized sports were football and boys basketball. All of the kids would get together in somebody’s back yard and play their version of football, softball, or various other games—pump-pump-pull-away, ante I over, tag, hide and seek, whatever. I realize now all kids don’t have a yard, but they must know somebody that does.
“ante I over”
The funnest game evah!!!!
Joan, times have changed. Kids aren’t allowed to just “play” in the neighborhood. Every thing has to be organized and overly-monitored just in case Satanists, gang members, or drug dealers decide to indoctrinate them into their evil ways.
Not in Pettigrew Heights. I drive thru my old hood almost everyday to work, nice shortcut, one day I saw a child running down the sidewalk in just a shirt and diapers. With no parent in site, I decided to stop and watch in my mirror if anyone would come after him. After about 10 minutes finally an older sister(?) who only about eight herself, came out and picked him up and and took him back to the apartment. Trust me, I made sure he didn’t run into the street. But I see this quite often in that hood.
I didn’t grow up in SF – so our choices of extra-curricular were limited at best. If you were a girl – your sanctioned sport options were basketball, gymnastics, and track. Times have changed and especially in SF. Hockey can be year-around, (as it is in Luverne, MN), soccer can be year-around, swimming can be year-around, etc, and quite honestly – I find no problem in that. These activities can get kids from being couch potatoes and as much as I loved all of the games that we played outside – that environment has changed. The city is busier – even on residential streets – and as a mom – I do take into account the safety of my kids. Sad to say – but it is now in the back of everyone’s minds and I don’t feel it used to be. As far as it being affordable – that is a main reason for the importance of the city’s involvement. These centers will have to have an option for anyone that wants to participate to be able to do so. I think these centers would be great for not only kids – but for the whole community.
It’s great that you guys want safe parks and indoor facilities for kids, but why do we just accept busy and unsafe neighborhood streets as a given? There are planning and zoning studies going on right now to update the city code for the new Shape Sioux Falls document.
Push for narrower neighborhood streets, wider sidewalks, and slower traffic so that kids can get to parks safely and play spontaneously, the way kids should.
I agree Tom, it is especially unsafe to ride bike on our streets, that is why I take the trail as much as possible.
Agree with both Tom H and l3wis. The width of our residential street in central SF is wide enough for 4 lanes. I don’t understand.