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UPDATE: Legislature wastes no time trying to increase taxes for a convention center in Sioux Falls

l3wis 10Comments

UPDATE: The argument the reps will use who support this is that smaller communities in SD need this tax leverage, for needed infrastructure, which I support 100%, but Sioux Falls doesn’t need this. Some have been suggesting to reps amend the bill so 1st class cities like SF and RC cannot get this kind of tax leverage, I would also make it so the bonds have to be for NEEDED infrastructure in their communities, not play palaces.

As I have been saying, no new convention center will be built without a tax increase. The city cannot borrow $400 million without another revenue source (full doc);

So the Municipal League suckered a retired business owner in Ft. Pierre to carry their water. Hey Mike, ever read your own campaign materials from your website?

To review my credentials, I am a conscientious, common-sense Republican who is respectful of our institutions, values, and the rewards created by investing in our people and relying on free enterprise to create opportunities for the betterment of our society. 

Hey Mike, why not take your own advice and let the private sector build this Convention Center. Seems hypocritical of your ‘values’ supporting a tax increase for essentially a white elephant we don’t need.

You will notice they will try to pass this saying that it is NOT a tax increase but an OPTION for voters. It would need a 60% passage by a citizen vote in the city that wants the increase. So how the city plan to have us vote on this? Will we vote first on a tax increase THEN vote on the CC or will we just put it in one package? I am hoping the Legislature kills this, but stranger things have happened. These taxes will also NOT go away when the CC is paid off. The entertainment tax was supposed to sunset after the CC and Pavilion bonds were paid off, guess what, still throwing money at it. The Municipal League has been lobbying for this for years. Please stop! It infuriates me that my tax dollars fund this lobbyist group and all they do is find ways to tax the living Sh!t out of us. Nobody wants to pay more in taxes for another play palace. They really need their heads examined in Pierre.

Denny Sanford Premier Center Property Taxes Riverline District SF City Council Taxes

Update: Is the city planning on borrowing for NEEDED infrastructure?

l3wis 5Comments

Update: I guess I am not the only one that sees the scam taking place;

Sioux Falls, like most cities in the United States, is running a growth Ponzi scheme. A classic Ponzi scheme involves someone who promises investors a high return on their investment. But, if the investment is not generating revenue, they turn to signing up new investors and using that money to pay the original investors. This may work for awhile but eventually the scheme collapses and investors lose their money.

First off, you DO NOT want to go down that path as a city, once you get behind the 8-Ball there ain’t no coming back. Many cities across the country who have done this have bankrupt themselves.

On Tuesday at the informational meeting the finance director (even though lately he seems to be working for the Riverline investors and NO on Grocery Tax campaign) said the city achieved a new bond rating. After I talked to a few folks I found out they have been pursuing this rating for years so they can BORROW and BOND for NEEDED infrastructure, like ROADS.

Why would the city want to do that? Because it frees up the 2nd penny for bond payments on play palaces. Take the proposed Convention Center. The bond payments on that project will be $40 Million+ a year for 30 years. Thru August of this year the 2nd penny has only collected $60 million. Let’s say we hit $100 million for the year. That would leave us very little for road repairs. Not to mention all the other debt service.

There is another option, a 3rd penny, which is a hard sell.

You never ever want to borrow for road projects while spending money on crap we don’t need. If this Convention Center passes it will bankrupt this city without another special tax to cover it.

WE MUST STOP THIS INSANITY NOW!

There are options. Citizens or the City Council can refer an ordinance to voters in the next election that would require any bonds over a certain amount (let’s say $30 million for reference) would go to a LEGAL STATE BOND election which requires a 60%+1 passage and not this silly fake advisory vote that the councilors keep parroting. The citizens NEVER approved the Denty, the city council did.

This could work and I think citizens would have 6 months to collect the sigs. Let’s put a stop to this stupidity while we still can.

County Commission David Barranco Downtown Sioux Falls Minnehaha County Property Taxes SF City Council Sioux Falls Taxes

Bikes, Bonds and Belittling

l3wis 8Comments

Not sure if you caught the above meeting, but it was a scorcher. While I would agree with Minnehaha County Commissioner Joe Kippley that Leah shouldn’t be fooling around with past elections, I don’t agree with him asking her to resign in public. He should have wrote her a letter, got a couple of his other commissioners on board and CC’d the media. It was extremely unprofessional, and the kicker is he is the health director for the city. Getting ‘political’, which was what his stunt was, is not the ethical standard I want my health director to be holding. If anything Joe should resign because of his conflicts, and I have a feeling he will AFTER the November election so they can appoint someone. More trickery. Oh, and the commission has allegedly been playing games with bond levies. More to come on that 🙁

COUNCIL KICKS THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD ON THE RIVERLINE DISTRICT

At the council meeting last night the council took the line item out of the 2025 budget and concocted a steering committee to study the purchase. While I’m happy they killed the line item, I am not happy they are continuing down the path which will ultimately have us buying the land. From talking to councilors I got the feeling they were just going to kill it and let the River Rats figure it out, but this must be the compromise. Folks, all this is, is smoke and mirrors by the council. They plan to implement a 3rd penny tax to have us paid for the Convention Center. This is short-sighted. They should implement a entertainment corporate tax on all business with 500 or more employees. If you think this place will have an economic impact on your businesses, prove it, pony up.

Oh, and Councilor Barranco was the ONLY councilor to vote against a property tax increase. Thank You David! That vote proved to me that at least 7 councilors don’t give a rat’s ass what economic position you are in, they need their play palaces!

E-BIKES HAVE INVADED DOWNTOWN

Not really, but some people seem to be butt hurt they are sitting around downtown. They are not junkers, so I am not sure what people are concerned about. Other cities do it this way. I think the only tweak I would make is having the bikes in a mobile unit so they are not scattered everywhere downtown, but like I said, there is a million other things we need to worry about downtown, and a random bike parked on a corner ain’t one of them.

WAS HARRIS DEBATING BIDEN LAST NIGHT?

After the first 10 minutes of the debate last night I thought Harris was debating Biden.

Property Taxes SF City Council Sioux Falls Taxes

City of Sioux Falls claims they have a legal obligation to raise our property taxes

l3wis 2Comments

Sometimes what you say is as important as what you do. In the administration’s yearly stab at raising our property taxes (even with property values and housing costs thru the roof) they are now using language that says we basically have a legal obligation to raise your taxes (Item #61):

Background & Objective: This ordinance shows the budgets of the Governmental Funds for the year ending December 31, 2024, and the required revenues and sources.

Notice the word ‘required’ added to the description. There is NO requirement that the city raises our property taxes. Budgets are fluid when you are proposing them, and the city council can amend that budget so an increase would NOT be required.

Within the actual ordinance itself, the language is even more suggestive;

That the sums of money that are listed in Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part of this ordinance are appropriated to meet the lawful expenses and liabilities of the City in fiscal year 2024.

So does the city council have a legal requirement to pass this? NO. The only requirement they have is to either pass it or not and adjust the budget accordingly. They do have a choice in the matter and to suggest they MUST legally pass this to uphold the PROPOSED 2024 budget is a load of hogwash.

This will likely pass with maybe 1 or 2 dissenters, but I hope a couple of the dissenters get together and have an amendment discussion about removing the language that suggests they must LEGALLY vote for the increase.

Over the years when I have seen past administrations pull this stunt where they tell councilors they have a legal obligation to vote YES I ask the question? Then why are they even bothering to vote if they have NO choice?

Cut the crap! There is NO legal requirement to raise our taxes, but there is a legal requirement that our city council acts within the best interest of the public’s coffers, and with one of the worst economic downturns since 2008 and housing costs skyrocketing, that best interest would be to vote NO on an increase and let the administration make the cuts to the budget THEY proposed. Then let them have a poutfest presser calling out the council for doing their due diligence.

MORE FUN WITH THE COUNCIL TUESDAY NIGHT

The council will also get an update on the disposal of the zoo mounts at the informational meeting, then they will be sucked into a series of executive sessions in which I’m sure they will be told they only have ONE option on the matter (because it is easier to bully councilors behind closed doors). It will also be interesting to see if the presentation includes any recommendations from experts.

During the regular meeting they will also be discussing creating an arts commission (Item #63). This is another initiative by the mayor’s office that has been shrouded in secrecy. While I support the concept of more public arts coordination with the city NOT under the current management.

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