Madison

Popelitical Satire

So ‘Norm’ gave me this idea today;

‘The cummerbund helps with the aching back’

I am not sure what to think of it, it’s kind of funny, but a little out of place. So I am running a contest, whoever writes the best caption I will take to Dakota Craft Links for a wonderful sausage lunch . . . but yah gotta sit and eat it with me 🙂 Oh, and I run a dictatorship, so I decide, but feel free to nag me about who you like the best.

Speaking of silliness, looks like Noem is going to have some good attendance at her little speech at DSU on Saturday. I think it is going to be a madhouse. The organizing of protesters on social media is exploding. I know several folks from SF attending the event. I’m sure the Madison town cops are preparing by skipping Taco Johns for lunch this week 🙁 and only eating coleslaw and Bevita breakfast bars.

I see Lloyd Companies is trying to play the TIF game in Madison now

Cory points out something I have known about Lloyd Companies for a long time, they don’t need TIF’s to develop, but hey if they CAN get them, they will use them;

But when we look at the big picture, TIF is a free ride. Go east on Eighth Street two blocks. You find apartment buildings there. I don’t know who built them or when, but the developer of those buildings didn’t get a TIF district to help make those apartments happen. That developer managed to cover his own construction bills and still pay regular taxes to support the city, school district, and county. TIF removes half of that burden from new developers, giving them an unfair advantage as they enter a tight Madison housing marketplace that ought to be drawing hordes of builders and buildings without taxpayer help.

I also find it interesting that Lloyd Companies tried to keep this a secret from the public;

Funny thing was, neither that resolution nor that night’s agenda packet nor any other online document I could find told us where that TIF district would be, or who was asking for it, or what they were going to do with it. Also funny was that the Lake County Commission hadn’t taken any formal action on any proposal to create a TIF district.

A little digging revealed that the proposal for TIF district #2 comes from Lloyd Companies in Sioux Falls. Lloyd prefers that their proposal not circulate until they finalize it.

As Lloyd said on the ‘100 Eyes’ show the other day, (SIC) “A TIF is when we (Lloyd co.) get a percentage of our property tax payment refunded to us, then we use that refund to pay off our bank loan that funded the project.” Can you imagine if you could put 80% of your property taxes paid each year towards your mortgage? For the next 10-14 years? But Lloyd doesn’t think it is a handout? LOL.

Madison, SD’s government giving taxpayer dollars to private business (H/T – Madville)

There is other ways to give incentive to a business to create jobs, but apparently in Madison, the only incentive is your tax dollars. This kind of shit goes on in Sioux Falls to;

I knew it! The dog ordinances on Monday’s Madison City Commission agenda are a ruse to distract us from the corporate welfare our commissioners plan to hand out. Madison is taking sales tax dollars away from homebuyers and other towns to subsidize one local business,Custom Touch Homes.

It’s quite the scam to;

Follow the money here, people: right now, if Custom Touch sells a $100,000 house to someone in Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls gets $2,000 and Custom Touch gets $100,000. If Madison’s city commissioners o.k. this sales tax rebate, then Sioux Falls gets bupkis. Madison gets $1,000. Custom Touch gets $101,000. Taxpayers outside of Madison subsidize a boost in pure profit for a Madison business. Clever!

I get so tired of these handouts in the name of creating jobs. But are they good jobs? They should be living wage, dependable jobs, but that is not always the case.