I find the statement ‘TIF itself can be rather complex and confusing’ a little comical. TIFs are not complicated. They are basically a property tax rebate to private development. Funny how I could explain that in one sentence. Where it gets confusing and frustrating is when they hand this rebate to extremely successful and wealthy free enterprise private developers for property that isn’t blighted OR above and beyond what that blight is costing them to develop. It is also a little ironic that TIF recipients are often big campaign donors to the elected officials who authorize the TIFs. It’s a blatant conflict of interest, corruption and corporate welfare. It’s time we end TIFs. They don’t benefit the common citizen in any way. A better program would be more low interest or no interest community development loans to landlords who want to provide working class affordable housing. Read all about it;
Dear Community Leader,
You are invited to join Lt. Gov. Matt Michels and other state and local leaders in learning more about an economic development tool called Tax Increment Financing (TIF). TIF is a development incentive primarily used locally to redevelop blighted areas and grow the local economy. TIF is a useful economic development tool intended to attract private investment and new businesses, which in turn means more jobs, more customers, and a growing tax base. When used correctly, the benefit to our community seems to be straightforward—however, TIF itself can be rather complex and confusing.
With that in mind, we would like to take the opportunity to invite you to an informational “TIF Forumâ€. During this event, you will hear from:
*Â Â Lieutenant Governor, Matt Michels
*Â Â Secretary of the Department of Revenue, Andy Gerlach
*Â Â Department of Revenue’s Director of Property Special Taxes, Mike Houdyshell
*Â Â City Council Vice Chair, Christine Erickson.
This is an opportunity to simply learn more about TIF, how it works, and ask any questions you might have. We hope you will consider attending this event.
Tax Increment Financing Forum
Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce- Betty J. Ordal Room
Monday, Nov. 13, 2017
3:00-5:00 p.m.
We kindly ask you to RSVP by responding to this email no later than Monday, Nov. 13th at noon. With limited seating available in the Chamber’s conference room, this event will be restricted to the first 45 people to RSVP.
Thank you,
Teresa Schreier
Public Affairs and Communications Assistant
Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce
200 N. Phillips Ave., Suite 200
PO Box 1425 | Sioux Falls, SD 57101-1425
P 605.373.2050 | F 605.336.6499
I would love to hear their definition of blight. Perhaps, it is relative. But where does Sioux Falls fit into that relativity? And when you find a city on the far or weaker end of that relativity – like Sioux Falls I will allege – then just how ethical of an economic development instrument truly is it?
Several years ago there was an informational meeting about TIFs at Carnegie Town Hall. It was held in the outer chamber, so there is no formal record.
The room was packed with local developers. Prior to the start of the meeting, the conversation buzzing throughout the room was all about how they had to come to learn about how to get “free money”!!!