South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

May 2012

Sanford Hospital SF City Council Sioux Falls

The Precedent of the Sanford Sports Complex TIF

l3wis 11Comments

COMPLETE DOCUMENT: sanford-TIF

Pay close attention to this map that shows where the improvements will occur.

Historically the city has not utilized a TIF to pay for infrastructure costs associated solely with private development (i.e. it doesn’t clearly meet the definition of being public).  With this TIF however that isn’t the case.  The very southwest corner of the development is very private in nature and will include retail and commercial development.  What is the true need for the TIF to cover the costs of this infrastructure and how is this retail / commercial development any different than those elsewhere throughout the City?

By allowing this the City has truly set a precedent for developer requests in the future.

Utilizing this incentive when it is clearly needed is a good thing for the city and the parties involved.  By utilizing it for a project that does not need it – it then becomes an entitlement.  That is a slippery slope to go down and jeopardizes the relationship the City has built in the past with the County and School District (other taxing entities that are impacted by the TIF being established).

What is missing is the development agreement between the City and Sanford for the reimbursement of the increment identified in the plan. The Economic Development department may not have the document completed yet. It may not be completed yet because of the several negotiations that have to be held yet.

This document will outline who is paid for what and when.

Let’s estimate there is $9M in increment with approximately $500K coming in annually.

• Should Sanford be paid for what they have done first or should the City be paid for the project they have completed?

• Can that be split so that both get something without one having to wait 5 years before seeing anything?

• Given the fact that the NEED was not justified, one would think that the City could be reimbursed first for the work that will be completed to the Sports Complex.

This has been a point of contention with the project, maybe that is why the document hasn’t been completed yet. It will be a public document so we will wait and see.

SF City Council Sioux Falls

Burning a hole in the city’s pocket

l3wis 9Comments

Boy, we can’t just let this money gain interest in an account, we gotta spend it!

The $4 million surplus in the city’s capital improvement projects budget likely will be spent on 11 projects that range from building upgrades, to street projects, to improvements at the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum.

At least the voice of reason is back, unfortunately were any of them listening?

But Councilor Kermit Staggers said the final list had no direct benefit to citizens. He had other suggestions about what to do with the money:

• Give it back to citizens through rebate checks similar to what Mayor Gary Hanson did;

• Ensure that there would be no property tax increases, or;

• Create a sales tax holiday where the city would refrain from collecting sales tax for a week or 10 days to generate publicity and business interest from outside the city.

“People-orientated, not just building projects,” he said.

 

Secretary of State

Voters Triumph over SD Secretary of State

l3wis 6Comments

Looks like Whopper and Whopper Jr. were handed their asses, again;

Sioux Falls, SD (May 21, 2012) – South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf released the following statement after a judge reinstated district 8 democratic state senate candidate Charlie Johnson, who was unwarrantedly rejected from the 2012 general election ballot by Secretary of State Jason Gant.

“The will of the voters has triumphed over the whims of the Secretary of State. Judge Barnett agreed that elections should be decided by the voters in district 8 rather than the bureaucrats in Pierre. District 8 voters now have a real choice for state senate this year, and we all look forward to a strong election.”
Judge Barnett of the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of reinstating state senate candidate Charlie Johnson to the 2012 general election ballot. Charlie Johnson’s petitions were rejected by the Secretary of State’s office as a result of a clerical error made in the Lake County Auditor’s office. The South Dakota Democratic Party sued the Secretary of State to reinstate Johnson.
Republicans

Are Neo-Cons big dummies?

l3wis 10Comments

Funny that Noem wasn’t mentioned;

The most conservative Republicans in Congress tend to speak at the lowest grade level, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation.

The analysis found that the more conservative a Republican was, the lower his or her speech level tended to be. But same is also partially true for lawmakers on the opposite side of the political spectrum. More progressive Democrats in Congress also tend to speak at a lower grade level. However, the decline in speech complexity is less pronounced for Democrats than it is for Republicans.

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »

You Missed

1st Amendment Open Government Open Meetings SF City Council Sioux Falls

The City of Sioux Falls does as little as possible when it comes to open meetings

1st Amendment Downtown Sioux Falls Elections SF City Council Sioux Falls Vernon Brown

UPDATE: The more things change, the more they stay the same

1st Amendment Developers Development SF City Council Sioux Falls

UPDATE II: Sioux Falls City Councilor could be facing ethics violations after tonight’s vote on Tre Ministries project

1st Amendment Developers Development Planning Commission religion SF City Council SFPD Sioux Falls

UPDATE: City Council Agenda (Dec 2-3)