Okay, I will be the first to say that this is an unscientific online poll, but take into account that he is getting nearly 75% of the votes (around 800 votes TOTAL) from a SD newspaper with a high readership per capita of the region. Also take into account that both Tim and his opponent are East River candidates.
I saw this notice today on the city website;
Scheduled Maintenance June 28, 10:30 p.m. siouxfalls.org will be unavailable for an estimate of two hours.
I hope this means the site will be re-done and more user friendly. Before the runoff election I had a conversation with Paul TenHaken about the poorly constructed city website and his strong desire to make it more user friendly and purposeful. This will probably not be a total reconstruction of the site, but hopefully a first step in the right direction. We should embrace technology and have city resources at our finger tips, that starts with a city website.
A screenshot of the Argus Leader main page at 10 AM, June 26, 2018.
I know, you are probably laughing at me right now. We have known for awhile that if Sanford isn’t doing it in Sioux Falls, it’s not worth reporting. But really, why would someone pay for an online subscription to the AL to just read about whatever news stories Sanford is feeding them (and probably paying them) for?
Ever since Stormland-TV’s only investigative reporter has been on personal leave, there seems to be NO controversial stories coming from them either. For instance, ‘Why did the trail derailment occur in Doon? Who’s at fault?’ Notice NO one in the local media has asked that question or been given an answer. Is journalism that difficult?
I know some make fun of siouxfalls.business for basically getting paid to write positive business stories about businesses, but #1, Jodi doesn’t hide the fact of what she does, and #2, how is she any different than our supposed unbiased local media? I don’t think the separation is that wide, except for the fact one is being honest about what they do.
GROCERY SHOPPERS PAID MORE FOR THEIR FOOD
TO MAKE POSSIBLE SD’S SUCCESS AT THE SUPREME COURT
For 14 years South Dakotans have been paying higher tax on their groceries in order to make it possible for South Dakota to win its tax case in the Supreme Court.
How did this happen? The preparation for the state to collect sales tax on online sales caused a significant hike in the food tax. It did not cause a tax increase on any other purchases, only food.
Before 2003, South Dakota cities had been limited to 1% tax on food. Then, tax “streamlining†rules were needed in order to position the state to tax online sales. The new rules said each city may have only one sales tax rate, even though the rules allowed the state itself to have a lower rate on food, even zero tax.
With the new rules, cities’ food taxes rose from 1% to 2% in most South Dakota cities, rather than lowering the tax on other things to match the 1% on food. Some cities had not been taxing on food at all, such as Rapid City, Mitchell, Spearfish, Pierre, New Underwood, and Wentworth. They were forced to start taxing groceries.
“The higher food tax has meant South Dakotans have been paying more for every breakfast, lunch and dinner for 14 years now to help win the Supreme Court case on collecting online sales tax,†says Cathy Brechtelsbauer, state coordinator for Bread for the World.
“We saw it coming back then. Some legislators told us they would cut the food tax when the state finally receives tax from online sales,†she remembers, “so the next legislature should recognize the contribution grocery shoppers have made to this Supreme Court success and make the next tax cut a cut in the food tax.â€
With cities still allowed only one tax rate, a food tax cut would need to be a reduction in the state’s portion of the sales tax.
News release, June 25, 2018
BREAD FOR THE WORLD -SOUTH DAKOTA
Cathy Brechtelsbauer, state coordinator, 605-335-6222, ryebread@breadrising.org
DaCola Note; This is one of the reasons I objected the half-cent increase in sales taxes to pay teachers. I found it counter productive to increase taxes on food to pay educators more. I would propose a total tax ban on food, not just a decrease. I know this has gone to the voters twice already and failed, but with the SCOTUS ruling I think this would be the perfect opportunity to end the food tax. I also think the state legislature should end exemptions on certain items that are not taxed now, like advertising. I have also argued that this won’t help main street businesses one iota. Even by taxing online items and essentially increasing the costs of those items so they can implement new accounting software, online shopping will still be less expensive due to volume, and more convenient because of choices. I also think the money raised by the state in new taxes will quickly be ate up by expanding government agencies that will be responsible in collecting these taxes. At the end of the day we have accomplished nothing but increasing prices for consumers to grow government. Thanks Marty Jackley and Deb Peters, for nothing.
While Legacy maintains that Ketchum will not be involved with the DT Mixed Use PPP Parking Ramp, moving forward, what does his 2-Year conflict of interest agreement mean?
I have been asking different city officials this question, and awaiting some responses.
The way I see it, since Ketchum will be VP of Operations for Legacy that essentially means he will be directly or indirectly involved with ALL of their projects (even the DT parking ramp). Moving forward, could this mean for the next two years Legacy as a development company can’t be involved with city projects such as;
Street Vacations
TIF’s
Façade Programs
Public Private Partnerships
Infrastructure upgrades
Special Rezones
Of course Legacy will probably try to play some fancy tricks with LLC’s, as they have done in the past. If I were the city planning department/mayor’s office I would send a letter immediately to Legacy informing them of the two-year moratorium while Ketchum works for them. And trust me, if the city chooses to ignore the conflict rules, the media and others will be quick to remind them, because we already got hoodwinked on the asbestos dumping, the building collapse and the parking ramp.
Legacy doesn’t get another by, not this time.
l3wis