The Sioux Falls School Board said Wednesday it will spend $6.3 million to renovate Howard Wood Field unless someone else gives it $15 million to $19 million to build a field elsewhere, making room for a new arena.
Bravo! The school board last night showed they know what their job is; educating our youth and protecting the interests of property tax payers. They proved they respect both by rejecting the Event Center task force fantasy proposals. I have said a million times, the task force needs to secure fiscally responsible funding FIRST then talk about the building plans.
School Board member Doug Morrison said it best;
“If we did have more money down the road, we’d invest on education, not stadiums,”
GoD – Looks like you will get your EC Downtown afterall!
It’s the only logical place to put it – if our fearless leaders decide to go ahead with it.
They better figure out the funding or it will never get built.
I think they already have the funding in mind. I think I was reading a while back where Event Center Task Force member Jim Woster is pushing for a second penny sales tax. Either read that here, or maybe some other blog, but that’s where I think they’re headed. Good luck on that one Jim…you’ll need it.
Wouldn’t that be a third-penny tax? The second one is already in place.
Not sure why, though. Nobody’s been able to explain where it’s going vs. where it’s supposed to go.
WP- They are going to the legislature next year to propose a law that would allow ANY city in SD to raise their retail taxes 2 cents on EVERYTHING to build entertainment faclities, if voters of that community approve. I bet my bottom dollar that Knudson will write the legislation. Like I have said before, raising an already regressive tax on food and utilities will be highly unpopular with not only the public but with legislators. It will never make it out of committee. Sioux Falls can already do things within state law to raise money for the facility but they are trying the easy road and I think it will blow up in their faces.
“If we did have more money down the road, we’d invest on education, not stadiums,â€
What Morrison really means here is, if they had more money down the road they would still complain about being underfunded while raising salaries of the administration and buying new uniforms for the football team. You see – that is technically an “education” about economics.
I’ll agree with you on that Costner. He should have said, “We refuse to use School District money on subsidizing an Event Center that we will never use or benefit from.”