State Funding

What’s next for the Riverline District?

I can’t imagine the meetings at City Hall today after the SD Legislative Taxation Committee killed the 3rd penny tax in a squeaker, 7-6. It is no secret their ignorant plan was to convince some rubes from rural districts to support this so they can build a street. But most people knew the jig was up. This was about building a Convention Center that nobody wants or cares about. The Ice Ribbon is a great example of a project NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE asked for. But now $16 million later here we are.

So some are asking, without this special 3rd penny tax authority can we move forward with the Riverline District? Yes and NO.

While I think the mayor is about as bright as a bar of soap in a truck stop restroom, I think he knew this may not pass, so they may have a backup plan.

I hate to break it to you Poops, but the legislature is dug in on this one, it ain’t going anywhere. Even if passed out of committee it would have been DEAD in the full legislature.

So how can they still salvage the Convention Center deal? It will be financial gymnastics, but they can still do it within their means, but on a smaller scale. My guess is they will push all bond expectations toward the project and see how much they can borrow. They have also been banking reserve funds which I think they want to use for a down payment (It is between $70-80 million) Why does the city have a savings account from our taxes that is 3x what ordinance asks for? With this surplus and borrowing authority the city could build this without a special tax, but the private donations would have to be significant.

My suggestion all along is to implement an INCOME tax on corporations in SF that have more then 500 employees, Hotels and Hospitality to pay for this. They are the benefactors of conventions, visitors and tourism, the average citizen buying a Twin Bing at the GC won’t benefit BUT these industries would. MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT!

To tell you the truth, the more I think about it, I am not opposed to the city buying the land, it has potential, but with this crappy tax revenue source killed, the city will have to get creative. My suggestion? Demo and plant grass, form a committee that will tell us the best use for the land for the least expensive capital improvement. One idea I had years ago is turning Fawick park into a sculpture garden and put all the SculptureWalk sculptures in the park as a destination, essentially an outdoor museum. We could do this here for minimal costs.

It is no secret that Poops would benefit financially thru this deal (still digging on this one, and will crack that case).

Make no mistake, TenHaken’s lack of leadership, transparency and vision put the last nail in this coffin, and I got to admit after I watched the vote live, I howled in enthusiasm. I think I even did a jig. I am a good jigger.

But don’t get lazy, they will try to cut a deal and we must ride their asses until they are dragging on a gravel road. This ain’t over.

The irony of all this is Poop’s record on getting things done. It is awful. And if I was him I would be embarrassed and resign. Bunker Ramp, 6th street bridge, Delbridge dead monkeys, and the constant lying and belittling of public inputers. YOU ARE NOT A LEADER. YOU ARE NOT A VISIONARY.

More evidence the SD State Legislature is out of touch with constituents

The sad part is that they don’t care and are on a mission from God;

  • By a 36%-58% margin, voters oppose “a school voucher program, also known as education savings accounts, where the state gives parents tax dollars that pay for their student to attend a private school or be homeschooled rather than a public school.”
  • This opposition includes parents of public school students (21% of the electorate), who oppose the proposal by a 33%-58% margin.

When I talk to parents that home school or send to private school (Chritian) they are opposed to them also. They understand that it is a CHOICE to send their kids to whatever school they want to and enjoy that freedom. They feel that public funding should only be for public schools and this is a slippery slope. I would agree. Of course the legislature claims public schools are ‘indoctrinating’ students. Which I found laughable since public school kids are not forced into Mass during the school day. Let’s talk indoctrination. This will likely pass with the 10 Commandments, and once again the SD State Legislature which is 90% right wing nutzos, didn’t listen to the voters just the Bible stuck up their arsses.

Legislative Update by Cathy

 Bills are still coming. You’ll see here a number are concerning already. Let’s be speaking up.

A. Sales tax.

            Please. Let’s have no sales tax rate changes until we see what happens with the cost of living under the upcoming tariffs, like in all these bills:

            HB1050, to allow cities to add another whole % tax for special projects. This raises the cost of living (food and other basics), makes SD taxes more regressive (harder on lower-income folks), benefits bigger towns more than smaller ones.

            HB1019, to increase the state’s sales tax from 4.2% to 5.0% (besides city 2%), and use funds to reduce property tax. Several unfairnesses: Most of the benefit goes to high-end homes, where “relief” may not be needed. Higher sales tax disproportionately requires more from lower-income households. Worst, it’s highly reliant on renters (31% of SD households), who would get NO benefit. And, replacing property taxes(school tax) is not a proper use of sales tax. HB1019 moves school tax around with no benefit to the schools. Property tax is a concern, but relief needs a different funding source and some focus on need.

            __Expect a bill to make the .3% sales tax cut permanent. Remember that the revenue the state is foregoing for this cut would have been enough to take the state food tax to 0%. So first, let’s see what tariffs do to the cost of living.

B. Property tax. 

            As listed above, HB1019, to cut prop.taxes using higher sales tax. Property tax payers have real concerns about recent increases. (In Minnehaha Co. statements went out this week. To me the increases seem to have stopped skyrockting. What do others think?) See notes above about this bill’s wrong revenue source.

            SB44, to renew the Sales or Property Tax Refund for Senior Citizens and People with Disabilities and make cost-of-living adjustments. This program helps but needs to reach more people. A higher income cut-off would really help, like at least the same cut off as for SNAP(food stamps).

C. School vouchers

            HB1009(educational empowerment accounts) and HB1020(education savings accounts). Both are first decided by House Education committee. They started on 1009 but did not finish. Of course, new programs should not be started when the state is short of funds. The cost to schools is not only the diversion of these millions from public education, but also schools lose the usual state aid for each student. Object to these Rep’s in House Education: Amber.Arlint@sdlegislature.gov, Heather.Baxter@sdlegislature.gov, Roger.DeGroot@sdlegislature.gov, Josephine.Garcia@sdlegislature.gov, Lana.Greenfield@sdlegislature.gov, Jim.Halverson@sdlegislature.gov, Mellissa.Heermann@sdlegislature.gov, Travis.Ismay@sdlegislature.gov, Phil.Jensen@sdlegislature.gov, Dylan.Jordan@sdlegislature.gov, Logan.Manhart@sdlegislature.gov, Kathy.Rice@sdlegislature.gov, Tesa.Schwans@sdlegislature.gov, Mike.Stevens@sdlegislature.gov, Nicole.Uhre-Balk@sdlegislature.gov,

D. Medicaid

            HJR 5001 to make voters re-vote again on our ballot decision to finally have Medicaid expansion. Legislators want us to let the state drop it, if federal funds for it change.  Legislators are messing with our vote again, even before federal fund changes.

E. Citizen rights

            All these are attacks on our citizen rights to amend our State Constitution.

            HJR 5003 to require 60% to pass. It passed the house and goes to Senators.

            HJR 5004 and SJR 504 to make it harder to get the needed signatures.

State Dems need to introduce a counter bill to the 10 Commandments bill

Besides a violation of separation of church and state they seem to think that our government was based on Judeo Christian beliefs. That is completely false. Besides many of the lawmakers at the time were agnostics or just simply ‘believers’ (deists) but did not follow a certain religion. Also ‘GOD’ is not mentioned in the Constitution;

In the United States, the federal constitution does not make a reference to God as such, although it uses the formula “the year of our Lord” in Article VII.

I was told that was used because we used the Christian calendar, which is way different then Christian Doctrine. Also the Declaration of Independence is pretty scarce on that GOD word;

Nature’s God: The source of power in the first sentence of the Declaration

Creator: God endows humans with unalienable rights

Supreme Judge of the world: God judges the actions of all people and ensures that justice prevails

Divine Providence: The founders entrusted themselves to God, who they believed had protected them and would continue to do so (The last two references were added during congressional debates over the document.)

Notice no mention of Christianity or ANY religion, and they did that on purpose. Just because you believe in a religious doctrine doesn’t mean it is always referring to the Christian God. They used the word GOD in a way that recognizes all faiths and beliefs and is a universal word for our creator. I will tell people while I am NOT religious I did attend Catholic and Lutheran services growing up and I do have faith in God, but not a religious God. So don’t call me an Atheist like Huether did on the mic at Democratic Forum once right to my face.

IMAGE: https://www.dkclassroomoutlet.com/

I am suggesting to legislative Dems to introduce a bill that would require all classrooms to display a ‘Be Kind’ poster or better yet amend the current bill. Obviously many legislators are too ignorant to understand the separation of church and state (which actually protects Christians more then any other group). Be careful what you ask for. If this passes I look forward to the ACLU lawsuit.

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

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.