A letter to the editor today pointed out something that a lot of taxpayers may not know;
If Huether expects voter support for this project, he must be upfront about all of the financial aspects. He mentions private donors, but if they pledge to cover a portion of the costs but make payments over several years, then bonding will have to cover those dollars in the early years in addition to the dollars not provided by donors.
The letter writer is correct. Even ‘IF’ we secure ‘SOME’ private donors for the EC, we will still have to bond for the full amount and pay for the entire project out of those bonds. The letter writer also points out another kerfuffle on the issue;
Sioux Falls City Council members and all voters need to make clear to Mayor Mike Huether that he will not be able to get by with quoting only the construction cost of the proposed events center.
The full cost of any such project likely will be as much as twice the $100 million cost the mayor constantly quotes.
He has not yet told us what the costs will be to create all that extra parking as well as the legal costs, the costs for creating the bonding arrangements, the interest payments on the bonds and the cost for all the equipment and technology in the building, not to mention all the studies already completed.
Wonder how Mike will weasel out of this one. He could pull a bait and switch. In other words at the time of voting he could tell voters we would be bonding for $110-$120 million. But once the EC is approved, there is really nothing stopping him and the council bonding for more. Why do I suspect he will do this? Because he is constantly changing the price tag and using different excuses as to why. The other day it was because steel costs are going up. I agree with this letter writer. Huether better put all the cards on the table and tell us the true cost before we vote on the issue.