“There will be a two dollar fee added to your bill. We will take that money and throw it in a burn barrel. Enjoy your stay.”
As discussed in an earlier post, the city council needs all the help they can get on budgeting. And the recent passage of a room tax increase is further proof they need all the help they can get;
A new tax on hotel rooms is supposed to lure visitors to Sioux Falls, but just how that money – more than $1 million next year – will get the job done remains uncertain.
WTF? While I opposed the increase for several other reasons, I certainly didn’t believe that the CVB didn’t already have a plan in place on how to spend the money. Apparently not. Unfckingbelievable. So does that mean any private entity that says they are going to ‘market’ Sioux Falls can come in front of the council and ask for money without having a plan to spend that money?
Has our city government gone stark-raving mad? Seems so. Pretty soon the mayor is going to ask for a cool million to ramrod his secret events center plan . . .
“From my perspective, that’s money that we’re all contributing to the cause and you’ve got to be a little cautious of where you spend those dollars so you don’t give unfair billing to one or two locations,” Hegg said.
Hey Mr Hegg you aren’t contributing one dime. You are collecting a tax. That’s like saying I should get part of the sales tax I collect in my business spent to promote my personal interests.
And by the way if you read the full article the Mayor is planning to spend part of the money on an events center.
Also don’t tell me the chamber doesn’t have a plan for the money. They just don’t want to tell us about it untill it is gone.
Who does Teri Ellis Schimdt work for? Who hires and fires that position? Is it a city job?
But but but I thought this million dollars is somehow magically supposed to result in $100 million in new sales tax revenue?
I’d rather the tax be spent on an events center than having Terri and the CVB buy more insulated coffee mugs and polo shirts to give to legislators.
That said, if someone has a petition to refer this I will be happy to circulate and sign it.
It would take 6ooo signatures by Dec 3 Too big an effort. The referendum process is set up for small town SD.
I’m still shocked they didn’t have at least a constingency plan in place to spend this money if the council approved it.
It’s the rate you pay for bed bugs you brought. Kids stay free but not bed bugs.