Excuses are like . . .

Director of Excuses for the city of Sioux Falls, Darrin Smith, seems to think adding a couple of pages to the TIF application form would be to difficult to do;

“It’s one of those things that sounds really good in theory, but it’s very difficult to do in reality,” Community Development Director Darrin Smith said of the requirement to list investors.

He said the city asks who the principal investors are, but it would be burdensome to list everyone and keep the list up to date as more investors sign on as development progresses.

As mayor Huether would say, “That’s a bunch of crap!” First off, it wouldn’t add any extra processes to the application process and secondly, as other councilors have pointed out, we need transparency on these matters;

Councilor Kermit Staggers sides with Jamison. He said city officials should not be invested in local development projects.

“We have to keep in mind when people are involved in investing in a project that has a TIF, they’re getting a government benefit, and the public should be aware of that,” he said during council discussion this fall.

Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr. also voiced his agreement. “I just feel if you’re asking for public money, we should know who you are,” he said.

And my favorite (LOL) line of the article;

“As a development (Lloyd) company, these investors are very near and dear to our heart, and we consider their names intellectual property,” Koepsell told the council this fall.

Intellectual property!? Have you been getting law advice from FOX news and Citizens United?

First off, if there is nothing to hide about a project you are investing in that may get tax benefits, who cares if your name is on a sheet of paper filed in the planning department’s file cabinet? I have never understood this secrecy boloney when it comes to development investing in this community. Nobody cares if you have the money to invest in these projects, privately. But once you start asking for government handouts (really what they are) then you need to be transparent. Are these investors ashamed they are asking for a bailout, like a single mom using her SNAP card at the grocery store?

And the excuses are abound, leave it up to councilor censorship, Erpenbach to defend the practice;

She wouldn’t want to discourage investors from signing on to TIF projects, said Councilor Michelle Erpenbach.

Remember, we must shield the public from the truth and transparency. Erpenbach’s stance doesn’t surprise me one bit. Besides, I doubt this would discourage anyone, in fact, I think receiving a TIF for a project you are investing in would make that investment more NOT less appealing. And let’s face it, full disclosure isn’t going to stop or slow development in this town, just read this SFBJ article;

“It will be all over, on every side of town,” said Mike Cooper, the city’s director of planning and building services. “We’re going into 2014 much like we ended 2013, with a significant amount of interest in all areas of development.”

Replicating the record-setting pace of 2013 will be tough. Building permit valuations surged toward $600 million, and there was growth in nearly every category, from commercial to residential. Businesses continue to look at relocating or expanding in Sioux Falls.

I did appreciate a little bit of honesty in the article by one realtor;

From Michael Bender’s perspective, however, the outlook is “kind of tepid.”

“We’re certainly busy and there seems to be activity … but it’s mostly corporate. It’s more bigger deals than local deals,” said Bender, the principal of Bender Commercial Real Estate Services. “It’s a bit of moving forward, and there are people doing that, but there are a lot of people saying, ‘Let’s slow down a bit.’ ”

Bender makes a good point, while the big boys in town and out of state corporate interests are going big in Sioux Falls, the average lowly resident taxpayer of Sioux Falls is picking up the tab for infrastructure for this growth, which I believe is unsustainable when you factor in the low wages in Sioux Falls. And even planning director, Cooper admits just who is ‘building’ in the private sector, and it ain’t the poor hump working at some cubicle Hell job;

“But what we’re missing is the entry-level housing,” he said. “We’re not building those anymore. It’s the upper end of the market.”

So Sioux Falls is all well and dandy, as long as you are rich and keep everything a secret.