UPDATE II: SD House Bill 1055 needs to be killed
l3wis UPDATE II: I emailed the committee members and told them this was a bad idea. The sponsor was the only one to respond after I told them I think this bill was written for Sioux Falls;
Not written for Sioux Falls.
So I asked WHO it was written for;
Written for all cities.
Well, Mike, that means it was written for Sioux Falls. I find it ironic that city hall recruited a legislator from Ft. Pierre who has a close relationship with our city attorney. I am just speculating here but it just seems odd that they purposely recruited a small town legislator to pass this instead getting some Sioux Falls legislator sponsoring this, it would have had a bad look. And here’s a kicker, two Democratic legislators from SF also say they support this. Baffling that our legislature wants to have a $400 million dollar tax increase on the residents of Sioux Falls. Each penny in Sioux Falls nets $91.5M a year (end 2023 is their latest for this data). So it appears SF really could build it in 5 years if the tax was implemented which would net $457M which is very close to the estimated costs to build a CC. And this bill wasn’t written for SF. They are full of it.
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Or amended to only include smaller towns who may need to build a fire station;
authorize municipalities to impose a new tax to fund capital improvement projects.
This is a 3rd penny tax move so we can borrow $400 Million for a Convention Center. The committee hearing is Thursday morning, I encourage anyone who may be there to speak against this bill, it could cost taxpayers in Sioux Falls $400M.
Advocates,
Please help oppose HB1050. It would allow cities an extra whole percent sales tax for special projects.
The problem: It takes food off tables. That should be enough said.
• Food insecurity is on the rise in South Dakota. It is already a herculean effort for non-profits to meet the need. Feeding SD saw increases last year in families coming for food, student backpacks with weekend food, school pantries, and senior boxes.
• Sales tax is harder on lower-income households than on those with upper-incomes. South Dakota has the 6th most regressive tax structure in the nation.
• Sales tax is very regressive, especially where it’s on groceries. Lower-income households pay a bigger portion of income on food. We have the nation’s 4th highest grocery tax.
• Already, the total(state+city) food tax you pay over a year could buy all your food for over 3 weeks.
• This one percent would be a 50% increase in city sales tax.
• South Dakota is a low-tax state, but not for the lowest-income group. [https://itep.org/whopays-7th-edition/ ]
Other background info:
Legislators console themselves by noting that the bill requires a public vote, has a 5-year limit on the special tax, and a 2-year gap before the next one. But is a short-term hunger increase ok?
Cities are already allowed 2% sales tax. Cities are not allowed to have a different rate on food. States may, but not cities. So there’s no use suggesting that amendment. [Streamline sales tax rules]
No matter how much we might appreciate the legislators who are on this bill, HB1050 is one of this year’s bills toughest on our low-income neighbors. A legislator’s name on a bill doesn’t mean he/she will continue to support it. Feel free to ask them to vote No on it.
What I don’t know is whether this would be useful for small towns. But for sure, Sioux Falls city leaders always have expensive projects they would love to fund, even projects that aren’t necessarily accessible to low-income residents.
Please make contacts today(Tue) or tomorrow, because House Taxation meet at 7:45am(6:45am Mt) on Thursday. Please ask these Rep’s to Oppose HB1050: Aaron.Aylward@sdlegislature.gov, Jeff.Bathke@sdlegislature.gov, John.Hughes@sdlegislature.gov, Curt.Massie@sdlegislature.gov, Will.Mortenson@sdlegislature.gov, Peri.Pourier@sdlegislature.gov, Tony.Randolph@sdlegislature.gov, Christopher.Reder@sdlegislature.gov, Kent.Roe@sdlegislature.gov, Tim.Walburg@sdlegislature.gov, Keri.Weems@sdlegislature.gov, Mike.Weisgram@sdlegislature.gov,
Thank you for speaking up. Low-income people don’t have lobbyists.
Cathy Brechtelsbauer for the Advocacy Project
“No other tax so directly takes food off tables.”
On sales tax by long-time director of Feeding South Dakota, Matt Gassen
