If I were running for council, make no mistake I would make our city’s exploding debt my number one issue in relationship with quality of life bonds. As Ellis points out on Sunday in his column, an indoor pool would be nice (and I agree) but how are we going to pay for it?
Did you know the city’s current or authorized debt of more than $400 million exceeds the state’s debt? I didn’t until recently. South Dakota’s debt obligations are a little north of $310 million. And the governor has proposed paying that down this year by 20 percent. Sioux Falls has more debt than the state.” 90 million more debt!
That is almost $2,500 of debt for every resident. It is an interesting thought for SF residents that they are on the hook for $710 million total debt between the state and the city! And the city wants it’s citizens to embrace more debt with an indoor pool. And that is the real issue here.
Am I opposed to the city bonding more debt? No, but those kind of loans should be reserved for NEEDED infrastructure projects and emergencies, not swimming pools. We can still maintain and have quality of life projects in Sioux Falls (snowgates for example) but we must budget for them while trying to pay down our current debt.