South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Rapid City

1st Amendment Developers Development Elections Planning Commission Rapid City TIFs

Libertyland TIF gets Slaughtered

l3wis 3Comments

It is no surprise to me this failed, I predicted a 70/30 split;

RAPID CITY, SD — Results have been finalized by Rapid City Officials, who have declared the citizens of Rapid City have voted against the establishment of the “Destination” TIF District, with a final tally of:

All 25 precincts in:

Yes 3,415 (30%)

No 7,965 (70%)

22.32% Turn Out (11,380 out of 50,995 Voters in Rapid City)

Absentee results

Yes 961

No 2,479

It surprised me there was so many absentee, seems a lot of snowbirds voted 🙂 which is ironic considering some of the people behind the petition drive are against mail in voting.

The success of this vote doesn’t surprise me, I think if citizens have an opportunity to vote on ‘economic development’ TIFs they will vote them down, they just don’t have any payback to the average Joe and actually cost us in higher property taxes and retail taxes. Notice our legislature keeps trying to shift tax burdens onto the consumer, it is regressive and idiotic and for every penny paid in retail taxes one penny gets taken out of the local economy. Horrible way to fund government.

So with the petition drive going on with the Data Center, it may be time to keep those clipboards warm for another one.

Yesterday at one of the City Council meetings there was a gentle mention that this development was coming back. If you read what I posted, you will notice that the TIF for this development was ONLY approved by the Planning Commission and that was in July of 2024. The project got stalled so the city council NEVER approved a TIF or final development plan, that means if they are resurrecting this project it will have to go thru the same process as it did 2 years ago. They will have to present a new development plan and TIF proposal. If the TIF proceeds are for any NON infrastructure upgrades we could challenge the TIF with another petition drive and I think we should. Citizens really should be deciding on their own property tax increases and not letting a vote by a meaningless board decide. So I hope the new development doesn’t include a TIF, but if it does, I smell a petition drive.

Oh, and the developer is from out-of-state, so we would essentially being subsidizing an out-of-state developer welfare queen. We can’t even launder money locally anymore 🙁

1st Amendment Elections Rapid City TIFs

TIFs get first major electoral challenge in Rapid City

l3wis 5Comments

I have been watching this with intrigue.

This is the first time a TIF has been put up to a vote EVER in the state. I think any TIF over $10 Million should get voter approval, it should also get county approval. I find the coalition of right/left leaning folks who gathered the 5K sigs in 20 days remarkable. If they can get that many sigs in RC in 20 days, that tells me the voters will kill this by a large margin. The astonishing thing is EVEN if the $125 million dollar TIF is eliminated by the voters, this f’ing amusement park will still receive over $60 million in other tax incentives, yet the state couldn’t figure out SNAP or TANF. TIFs have gotten ridiculous, but they have always been. Where were these lawmakers 10 or 20 years ago? The research was out there that they don’t work, yet you let taxpayers get rolled for decades while bailing out developer welfare queens. I guess I am happy there is FINALLY opposition to TIFs statewide, but what took yah so damn long!!!!!!?????

1st Amendment Rapid City Steve Allender

Rapid City’s outgoing Mayor Steve Allender struggles with the 1st Amendment

l3wis 5Comments

Even as he is walking out the door today, he still doesn’t understand the document he took an oath on, neither does our Sioux Falls mayor;

In 2021 a similar protest was held and they did not acquire the proper permit to host a gathering. The same is true for Tuesday’s march, and they’ve stated that is an intentional choice.

“It’s not a law it’s a policy. It’s used for parades and other celebrations. This is not a celebration. This is direct action, and we didn’t file a permit for a reason. We didn’t need to. This is our land,” Red Bear said.

While we can go into the tit for tat about who’s land it is, Rapid City is an American city governed by the US Constitution, the State Constitution and whatever rag the city charter is written on.

Protesting is protected speech and you don’t need a permit. Maybe someone needs to tell the new mayor about that document he took an oath on. It’s kinda important.

Elections Rapid City

UPDATE: Who will win the Rapid City Mayoral Race today?

l3wis 4Comments

UPDATE: I was off a bit, Salamun wins Rapid City mayor.

I will admit I knew about the election, but not until about 5 minutes ago I decided to research the candidates. I know nothing about any of them except for what I read today.

Just based on donations, I would give the victory to Estes, but since this is a plurality election, I think the three other men running would steal votes from Estes giving the victory to Armstrong (who is the only woman running).

I guess we will see.

Either way, these two will likely be in spots 1 and 2. Estes seems like a moderate businessman while Armstrong tends to be moderate to progressive.

I think it would be quite an upset tonight if Armstrong squeaks by.

Developers Development Planning Commission Rapid City TIFs

Sioux Falls Developer trying to get TIFilicious in Rapid City

l3wis 5Comments

It shouldn’t be a surprise that this developer is asking for a TIF for a project that doesn’t supply ANY affordable housing;

The apartments will start at around $995 for studios, $1,295 for one bedrooms and $1,895 for two bedrooms.
Luke Jessen, senior director of development at Lloyd, said the company will ask the city for an $8.75 million TIF, although a hearing date has not yet been scheduled.


$995 for a hole in the wall apartment in Rapid City, seems reasonable? Notice how many groups it must go through before approval;

The project will soon appear on the Tax Increment Finance District Review Committee, Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission agendas.

We may be served well if we had such a committee;

The committee is comprised of two Rapid City Council members, two Pennington County Commissioner members, one Rapid City Planning Commissioner, one Rapid City Area School District representative, and one Economic Development Partnership representative.

If we had a committee like this, there might be transparency in the process, they actually meet in council chambers and members of the public can attend to see how the TIF is negotiated. What a concept! In Sioux Falls they are negotiated in the basement of the planning office then rubber stamped by the Planning Commission and City Council.

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