It seems they already had their eyes on our university and cows;
Published reports when Bel Brands announced its decision to build in Brookings indicated that the company was particularly taken with things like a robust dairy industry in South Dakota that will provide the raw materials needed to manufacture cheese and the world-class dairy facilities and dairy research at South Dakota State University where there sits a $9.5 million brand new dairy processing and research facility. Only one other university in the country has a similar facility. Could it be that Bel Brands would have selected Brookings without up to $10 million in South Dakota taxpayer incentives? We will never know.
In addition, what is the process for determining who gets money and how much from this new Large Project Development Fund? Apparently, the process is whatever deal companies can negotiate with Dennis Daugaard behind closed doors and with no post-deal transparency.
Is this how our state intends to do business in the future? The iron-handed, no checks and balances, no transparency one-party Republican Governor with his rubberstamp lemming legislature can cut whatever deals he wants with whomever he wants, with taxpayer money and we are supposed to just shut up and be grateful for his actions? And by the way, what if Dennis Daugaard is a horrible negotiator? What if he gave away $10 million in tax dollars when $1 million might have done the trick? We have no way of knowing because there is absolutely no oversight of his actions.
Like I have said in the past, we need to end this practice of handouts to corporations in order to attract them here. 1) Because we already have other incentives and 2) It’s OUR tax money they are giving away. Wouldn’t investing in education be a wiser use of the money?