Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce

SF School District Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce

UPDATE: Sioux Falls School Board’s Property Tax increase sneaky move

l3wis June 12, 2017 6Comments

UPDATE:Â President Tholke asked for a two week deferral of the opt out and the motion failed. So they all voted for the OPT-OUT anyway.

UPDATE II: WhileÂ watching the School Board meeting, and they are arguing about being transparent about the OPT-OUT discussion, in fact so transparent guess when theyÂ posted the OPT-OUT discussion video from April 10, 2017? April 11? April 12? Nope, they posted it TODAY! That’s transparency folks!

UPDATE III: A group is planning to circulate a referendum on the opt-out that passed tonight.

Only one week after a completely dismal school board election turnout, where they bragged about saving $16,000, and now they want to rob you out of $5 million.

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TONIGHT AT 5:30 PM, IPC

They couldn’t wait until the new board member got sworn in, they had to slip it in now.

Sioux Falls homeowners could miss out on state property tax reliefÂ as school board members look to pad the district’s dwindling reserve funds.

Board members will vote Monday night on a recommendation to opt out of local property tax limits. The move wouldÂ bring an extra $5 million into school coffers over the next 10 years.

And technically your taxes won’t INCREASE, they just basically wiped away the tax relief you WOULD have gotten from the state legislature;

Homeowners wouldn’t see taxes go upÂ in 2018, but they would miss out on state property tax relief, a direct result of the new education funding formula passed last year.

The worst part about this besides their very sneaky method* of putting this on the agenda (surprised anyone from the media even caught it) is this isn’t even for a capital project, it is for a savings account because gosh darn it, they just can’t trust Trump or Pierre. Tax increases to pad savings accounts are NOT the way to go. I have often said government should spend what it has and keep an even keel. That is why I have often supported tapping into the education investment fund dividends and interestÂ to actually FUND education instead of these constant tax increases.

*NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG

As for the sneaky way they put this on the agenda. I had to read it three times before catching the clever language, Item #10 under Reports of the Superintendent, A. Finance Action Network Opt-Out Recommendation. Doesn’t sound like a property tax increase unless you read the attached documents.

And look at the esteemed members that want to increase your taxes;

The Finance Action Network (FAN) met on Thursday, May 25th. The meeting started at 11:30am. Those in attendance were:

-Sara Andrews (Beck & Hofer)

-Jason Ball (SF Area Chamber)

-Keith Severson (Eide Bailly)

-Bob Thimjon (Ramkota Companies)

-Becky Wittrock (Geo Tek)

-Doug Morrison (Citibank/SF School Board)

-Todd Vik (Sioux Falls School District)

-Brian Maher (Sioux Falls School District)

Once again, the Chamber looking out for the little guy . . . NOT!

And what is the irony in all this? The final statement on the report;

The additional $5 million Opt Out is recommended for 10 years. The district would only access the portion of increase as needed.

In other words if it is approved IT will be accessed, make no mistake.

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce

What’s up with siouxfalls.com?

l3wis February 2, 2017 3Comments

Last week, the media was telling us about siouxfalls.com, a site that will be used as a resource for . . . ? The site seems to be a Chamber driven site, and is managed by Forward Sioux Falls. I don’t take issue with the site, many cities have these types of sites. I do have some concerns though.

The site shares a name with the city’s site, with the change of .com to .org, this may be confusing for some people separating our business community from our local government.

Also, I am wondering if theÂ development foundation used the $2 million we gave them to produce the site or if this comes from the CVB’s bid tax fund? I think the Chamber should pay for their own business (membership)Â driven sites not the taxpayers.

I have asked a city official to look into the funding of the site.

SF City Council Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce

Sioux Falls Chamber tries to ‘Shame’ the most ‘Honorable’ of city councilors

l3wis July 6, 2016 7Comments

Like clockwork, the Chamber tries to kill the most prudent and aware city councilors;

Forward Sioux Falls Agreement Approved â€“ Three Councilors Dissent

In recent years, the City has required signed agreements with those organizations it invests in to help develop our community. That includes, for example, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, Downtown Sioux Falls and, for the first time, Forward Sioux Falls. We agree that good agreements make for good partners and this is an important way for the City to do business.

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the agreement between the City and Forward Sioux Falls was on the agenda for approval. The agreement includes the terms, conditions and responsibilities of the parties, the planned $400,000 per year the city will invest and the notation that funds must be approved each year by the Council. Forward Sioux Falls and City leadership supported the agreement.

After the City presentation and comments by FSF Co-chair Mark Shlanta, a motion was made to defer approval to September. That motion failed 3-5. More dialogue ensued and a motion was made to approve the agreement which prevailed on a 5-3 vote. Yes votes included Erickson, Kiley, Rolfing, Selberg and Erpenbach. No votes included Starr, Neitzert and Stehly.

A main concern expressed was the idea of a multi-year pledge. It was noted that the City does not regularly express funding support in this way for other programs. However, the structure of Forward Sioux Falls is as a five-year program. Private enterprise understands this and that is how they pledge their investments so it seems logical all partners would do the same. Further, FSF needs funding certainty for starting and developing programs with long-term time horizons. Finally, this is nothing new for the City. Prior FSF campaigns have also included multi-year pledges from the City as well as other investors. Some councilors seemed to treat this as a new idea when it has been this way for preceding campaigns.

We respect the fact that lawmakers need to vote their conscience and each of those voting no did express their general support for Forward Sioux Falls. I’m always reminded, however, that in legislative matters words do not countâ€”only votes do.

We thank the five Councilors who voted to approve the agreement and we thank the City Administration for working with Forward Sioux Falls to continue a program with an unprecedented track record of economic development success. We look forward to working with the Council to convey the important work of Forward Sioux Falls and our progress over the next years. The next step for the City will be, of course, the 2017 city budget.

The sick irony of all this is that whether the Chamber wants to admit it or not, they need the full support of the council throughout the year, on many projects, some worthwhile, some not. And by shaming three of them publicly in this matter was not a good call, in fact it was wildly childish.

All theÂ threeÂ were asking for was a year to year accounting (Erpenbach also asked for it, but voted for it anyway), something Forward Sioux Falls was not willing to give. So yes, their votes did count. They told them that arrogance, attitude and elitism would not be tolerated. I applaud the three councilors for standing up for ourÂ public treasury and asking the right questions about a program that has yet to prove itself.

And BTW, some words do count; The Sioux Falls Chamber look like egotistical fools.

UPDATE: Sioux Falls School Board’s Property Tax increase sneaky move

What’s up with siouxfalls.com?

Sioux Falls Chamber tries to ‘Shame’ the most ‘Honorable’ of city councilors

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