UPDATE: There will discussion on this $900K beast tonight at the Council Meeting. I am told it will be pulled from the consent agenda. It seems the vendor is trying to pull a fast one in selling us this with a trade-in deal instead of a lease. The discussion should be good.
There is NO informational meeting on Tuesday. The Fiscal Committee meeting will be at 4 PM instead.
They will be discussing the different non-profits in Sioux Falls that receive tax subsidies from the city.
I find the discussion around what non-profits should get, if anything, from the city a good one. What I find puzzling is that the council is taking on this discussion BEFORE they have received an end of the year financial report. Wouldn’t this be helpful in determining what should be given?
It’s also interesting because the city council has already been told what there surplus is from last year, a little over $3 million, in which the administration has suggested they put towards debt and refinancing. I also find the delay in the end of the year report troubling because the state just announced today that tax revenue has been up over the past two months. Where does the state get it’s money from? Municipalities tax collection. So how is it the state already knows how our past couple of months have been, but the city can’t release last year’s data?
I think the city council should postpone any discussion on non-profit subsidies until they have an end of the year report. I also suggest that the Huether administration stop playing games and release that report ASAP. I also think the outgoing councilors Rolfing and Erpenbach shouldn’t be included in these discussions. They both have done enough damage with their idiotic proposal to have a run-off for council races. So stupid.
Item #1, Approval of Contracts.
They are throwing over $123K at the Pavilion (they are doing a study on escalators, $11K). Seems like a weekly thing since Darrin Smith has taken over. The escalator study is funny because I thought that the Pavilion and city has given up on the escalators years ago. Maybe the $11K study will tell them once and for all to NOT get them 🙂
But the big expenditure is in fleet. If you think a $300K Snowcat was expensive, fleet thinks they need a bulldozer like $900K tractor. I guess if it is something they would use everyday it is worth the expense, but if it is a specialty item, they would be better off leasing such a piece of equipment.
Item #10, 2nd Reading, Approving the number of votes it takes for the charter revision commission to put items on the ballot. They want a super majority. (4 out of 5 votes). I think three votes are enough. Remember, the CRC doesn’t approve charter changes, they are simply putting items on the ballot for voters to decide. This year they didn’t approve any items for the Spring Election because a know-it-all attorney on the commission told them about all these slippery slopes he pulled from his butt. Very disappointing.
Item #11, 2nd Reading, Approving re-financing of bonds. While this is a good thing, I still think having the end of the year report would be helpful. Cart in front of the horse once again. Secret, Secret, Secret, RAMROD. The mayor will be hoodwinking all the way to the end.
Item #13, 1st Reading, Allowing more time for the council (and public) to review contracts before approval (7 days). While there is no harm in this ordinance, the real problem is the council not being able to sit at the negotiating table when important contracts come up, like the golf contract. Obviously the council doesn’t need to be involved with all of the city contracts, more than likely they don’t need to be involved in 90% of them. But when it comes to significant policy changes (like from lease to management) they need to be involved. Besides, THAT is there job according to charter, POLICY. Ironically that is the one thing the mayoral candidates DID NOT bring up last night, letting the council set policy and the mayor run the employees and daily operations of the city.
Item #15, Resolution, Gifting 80 feet of rail and railroad ties. Not that this is controversial, I’m just curious WTF these people are going to do with it? Railroad ties actually work pretty good for landscaping projects.