Let Sioux Falls Vote will be collecting circulator sheets starting tomorrow with a deadline of Thursday to turn in the petitions. I have no idea how many sigs they have, because they decided to collect signatures in what I call the ‘chaos’ style. Now, this is NOT bad, just chaotic because you are depending on hundreds of volunteers (not paid circulators) to collect the sigs for you and you come in at the end with the booty. If I had to guess, they have the sigs, maybe more, but there is NO way of knowing until Thursday. All that aside, even if they don’t make the mark, this petition drive has united many folks across the political landscape. Dems, Repubs, Indies and all stripes are working together on this. With all the horrible political division going on in this country, it makes me smile that EVERYONE in the community is working on this together, and it is what I envisioned anyway; CITIZENS UNITED AGAINST A CORRUPT CITY GOVERNMENT And even if they get the valid sigs, the city and developer will likely challenge in court; language, active voters, etc. It will be a sh!t show. But let’s pretend for a moment this makes it to the June ballot, the rezone will go down 70/30. And even if the petition drive isn’t successful, it will reveal the true colors of our city government, and that sends the best message.
I also want people to know Sam Scarlata who is organizing the petition drive is also running for At-Large City Council against the incumbent Rich Merkouris. We may not be able to kill the Data Center, but we can kill his council seat! I want Sam to know, there is a grassroots network in this town that will destroy the Matt Paulson money machine, we are going to change city hall in June, and I mean it this time 🙂
Speaking of the Developer Welfare Queens, I was awaiting Jodi’s article defending the grifter class in Sioux Falls with all the Data Center resistance;
Rapid City voters last week made a clear statement about the guardrails they believe should exist around tax increment financing. Without delving too deep, Rapid City also historically has used tax increment financing to fund growth in ways that fundamentally are different from Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls generally has taken what I would call a conservative approach with structuring TIFs, focusing on some of the most basic qualifying costs allowed under state law: things like site preparation, infrastructure and parking. I can point to numerous downtown redevelopment projects that would not exist at the scale they do or exist at all without this economic development tool. They have done what they were intended to do: driven additional economic activity well beyond the increment in property tax growth they were able to use to support their projects.
This statement is on it’s head. Rapid City has actually used TIFs more, but for smaller infrastructure and housing projects, that is why the Libertyland TIF was so ridiculous to RC voters. Sioux Falls has NOT used them CONSERVATIVELY. Massive tax breaks for parking ramps ($100 MILLION) that mostly residents of the expensive condos use, which drive up our personal property taxes and forces residents across the state to fund our school district with sales tax revenue. In other words when the SF city council gives a TIF (property tax break) the school district has to make up that property tax revenue from state sales tax collection. So when you buy a loaf of bread in Milbank you are funding the tax cut for millionaire condos in Sioux Falls. I know, not fair. At all.
Economic development incentives aren’t giveaways. They’re more like investments.
I would agree 100%. When we use tax dollars to fight a fire, build a road or give us clean drinking water, that is an INVESTMENT, in EVERYONE. When we give that to rich developers that just creates a wealth gap and raises taxes on the rest of us. If anything it is a DI-VESTMENT in our citizens.
Every time I hear a journalist or some other talking head talk about the benefits of TIFs, I ask the same question, ‘What is the benefit to the average tax payer?’ I usually get crickets and the reason there has never been an independent state or city audit of TIFs is because there is NO benefit, and they know it. TIFs are really the emperor with no clothes.
If TIFs really work, why not an audit?
I hope Jodi had a nice dinner from the revenue she made from this article, because you are the only one benefiting from TIFs. Just sayin.’