2019
l3wis When will we see a TIF Economic Impact Study?
It should be no surprise that in Jodi’s weekly column she is (gently) ringing the benefits of TIFs;
The projects that can be created here also likely won’t happen without some cooperation between the public and private sectors – whether it’s in the form of land sales, tax increment financing or use of sales tax revenue to enhance the riverfront. Maybe all of the above. And I believe as a community we need to be open to those partnerships because these are opportunities. Not guarantees.
As we know, Jodi makes her living with content marketing and advertising. Her clients would wonder what was going on if she wasn’t encouraging their ideas. She gets a pass on this one (in an otherwise great article).
Many people wonder why I am so against TIFs or other tax incentives for developers. Mostly because of the research I read on the topic. I have read studies from the East Coast, the South and the Midwest (Kansas and Iowa). Most come back with the same results, TIFs don’t pay for themselves in economic impact (jobs, etc.) Most of the studies have shown that TIFs usually have either a very small return or NO return at all.
It is important to know that in order for TIFs to be considered good for the local economy it has to have an impact on the regular Joe. When we give tax rebates and incentives to the ‘Big Guys’ those ‘unpaid’ taxes get spread around to the rest of us. In an essence we are propping up these developments in hopes of a payoff that may never come. It would be like the bank forcing your neighbor to pay your mortgage if you defaulted.
What we have seen in Sioux Falls is quite the opposite. Our property tax (rates) have continued to climb due to growth (crime/drugs, public education, infrastructure). This isn’t some study I have done, it’s just reality.
I have often chided the powers of be to provide a comprehensive TIF study actually showing us the benefits of TIFs in the Sioux Falls area. Some have even suggested to me that some of those studies have been done privately but haven’t been shared with the public for obvious reasons, dismal results.
Just because you ‘SAY’ something works, isn’t enough, you have to back it up with real data. I think the THRIVE report last year was the closest glimpse we have had that has shown our massive growth in Sioux Falls is having an opposite affect on the populous, higher taxes and the plague of low wages in South Dakota.
TIFs haven’t relieved us of our ills, one might argue that they have actually made things worse (I’m not at that point yet).
I have often said we need to revamp tax incentives in Sioux Falls by having a strategic plan to clean up our core neighborhoods from the streets up. This would have an immediate and direct impact on the people living and working in Sioux Falls and it would make our city a better place to live, which improves quality of life and helps to attract a solid workforce.
Until someone can prove me otherwise with actual data, TIFs will always be just corporate welfare to me, and little else.
Sioux Falls City Council Agenda • April 2, 2019
City Council Informational Meeting • 4 PM
Presentations on;
• CVB Strategic Plan
• Administrative Goals from COS Beck (I guess after almost a year in office PTH has goals)
• City Council Budget Discussion (wonder if anyone will have anything to add this time around?)
• City Council Leadership Election Ordinance (There is an attached PDF of the proposed changes by Councilor Brekke). I don’t know all the details, but it seems now there will be public council discussion about the nominations instead of it getting all decided ahead of time thru private phone calls and emails.
City Council Regular Meeting • 7 PM
Item #7, Approval of Contracts, while I understand that we have to dispose of the sandbags & we will probably be reimbursed by FEMA. I betcha if you asked the public they would take care of those bags real quick for FREE.
Item #8, Change Orders, apparently now we are giving contractors (who work on outdoor infrastructure projects) extra money due to ‘weather’. Isn’t that something you would pad in your bid? “Oh, I didn’t realize it would be harder to work in the winter than in the summer. Who knew?”
Item #56, Ordinance, 1st Reading, the first set of bonds for Water Reclamation
Item #57, Ordinance, 1st Reading, Changing ominations and election for council leadership
Item #61, Notice of Appropriation Transfers, there seems to be a lot of money being transferred from arterial road repairs.
Planning Commission Meeting • Wed, April 3 • 6 PM
Letter to the Editor addresses the 5 Children on the Sioux Falls City Council
And some people wonder why I play my violin;
This favored group of five does not interact much with the public. Their reliance is mostly limited to city staff, developers, and the mayor’s office for information and instruction. That in itself, tells citizens a great deal about the intent of these five councilors to actually represent average citizens.
The irony is I heard a top city official (not elected) last week talk about how the previous mayor ‘Pushed Thru’ the Events Center (instead of relying on a task force for a recommendation). Also ironic is this person tried to correct what they said after saying it, as if the rest of us in the room didn’t know our past mayor was a ramrodding bully who not only screwed up the siding on the Denty but at the EC Campus Book Club meeting officials admitted that the concrete on the main floor is beginning to crack and crumble due to the ice usage for hockey games. Remember folks, this building is barely 5 years old.
If these disrespectful councilors were children in our school system, their disdainful behavior and body language would be strongly addressed. Do we expect less of our councilors than we do our children?
And the sad part is that they don’t care, or they go on Facebook and claim their families are being attacked.
Sioux Falls VA believes in Religious Freedom, as long as you are Christian
The Missing Man display at the Sioux Falls VA initially featured an oversized Bible, disrespecting the sacrifices of countless non-Christian servicemembers since the Revolutionary War. Image from: Military Religious Freedom Foundation
You would think a story this big that someone in our local media or even the local ACLU would be all over this;
The VA hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota has a serious problem. Not with health-care—they’re one of the best in the nation—but with the US Constitution that the veterans they serve risked their lives to defend. And with the veterans whose rights they are trampling on. And the dead they are disrespecting.
A POW/MIA Missing Man display in the main lobby features a Christian Bible, despite a slew of complaints which the VA has not simply ignored, but made a mockery of, by replacing one Bible with another, thus pretending to “resolve your concerns,†in an email to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is representing 21 VA patients who have contacted them with complaints.
As is normally the case, the majority of MRFF’s clients are Christian, while the totality includes a wide variety of faiths, as well as non-believers.
“Of the 21, 14 are Christians—so two thirds are Roman Catholic or Protestants,†MRFF founder and President Mikey Weinstein told Crooks and Liars. “The other seven are Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Native American and then atheist/agnostic.”
It reminds me of Steve, a veteran who shows up to city council meetings almost weekly and contends the VA has discriminated against him because he is atheist (among other things). We have to remember, many people who have fought for our country are of many different religious stripes or none at all. That is one thing that separates our country from others, religious freedom. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.