UPDATE:Â President Tholke asked for a two week deferral of the opt out and the motion failed. So they all voted for the OPT-OUT anyway.
UPDATE II: While watching the School Board meeting, and they are arguing about being transparent about the OPT-OUT discussion, in fact so transparent guess when they posted the OPT-OUT discussion video from April 10, 2017? April 11? April 12? Nope, they posted it TODAY! That’s transparency folks!
UPDATE III: A group is planning to circulate a referendum on the opt-out that passed tonight.
Only one week after a completely dismal school board election turnout, where they bragged about saving $16,000, and now they want to rob you out of $5 million.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TONIGHT AT 5:30 PM, IPC
They couldn’t wait until the new board member got sworn in, they had to slip it in now.
Sioux Falls homeowners could miss out on state property tax relief as school board members look to pad the district’s dwindling reserve funds.
Board members will vote Monday night on a recommendation to opt out of local property tax limits. The move would bring an extra $5 million into school coffers over the next 10 years.
And technically your taxes won’t INCREASE, they just basically wiped away the tax relief you WOULD have gotten from the state legislature;
Homeowners wouldn’t see taxes go up in 2018, but they would miss out on state property tax relief, a direct result of the new education funding formula passed last year.
The worst part about this besides their very sneaky method* of putting this on the agenda (surprised anyone from the media even caught it) is this isn’t even for a capital project, it is for a savings account because gosh darn it, they just can’t trust Trump or Pierre. Tax increases to pad savings accounts are NOT the way to go. I have often said government should spend what it has and keep an even keel. That is why I have often supported tapping into the education investment fund dividends and interest to actually FUND education instead of these constant tax increases.
*NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG
As for the sneaky way they put this on the agenda. I had to read it three times before catching the clever language, Item #10 under Reports of the Superintendent, A. Finance Action Network Opt-Out Recommendation. Doesn’t sound like a property tax increase unless you read the attached documents.
And look at the esteemed members that want to increase your taxes;
The Finance Action Network (FAN) met on Thursday, May 25th. The meeting started at 11:30am. Those in attendance were:
-Sara Andrews (Beck & Hofer)
-Jason Ball (SF Area Chamber)
-Keith Severson (Eide Bailly)
-Bob Thimjon (Ramkota Companies)
-Becky Wittrock (Geo Tek)
-Doug Morrison (Citibank/SF School Board)
-Todd Vik (Sioux Falls School District)
-Brian Maher (Sioux Falls School District)
Once again, the Chamber looking out for the little guy . . . NOT!
And what is the irony in all this? The final statement on the report;
The additional $5 million Opt Out is recommended for 10 years. The district would only access the portion of increase as needed.
In other words if it is approved IT will be accessed, make no mistake.