Sioux Falls City Council Agenda • Feb 16, 2021

City Council Informational • 4 PM

Presentations;

• Emerald Ash Borer Response Plan Update by Kelby Mieras, Park Operations Manager

• Falls Park Public/Private Partnership Project by Don Kearney, Director of Parks and Recreation

NO ATTACHED OR SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AT THIS TIME

Regular Meeting • 6 PM

Item #4, Awards, Souper Hero Award has NO supporting documents telling us who this is, which is odd.

Item #7, Approval of Contracts;

Sub Item #18, Agreement supports the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House by contributing to the reasonable and necessary expenses associated with a warming site and year-round shelter services, Bishop Dudley Hospitality
House, $120K. I hope this item gets pulled and someone from the BDHH comes and explains why homeless people have invaded my neighborhood over the past 2 years and for the first time since I lived in my home (18 years) there has been year round panhandling (I even saw them on Friday when the wind chill was 24 below). So what is the BDHH doing with our money? Are they combatting homelessness in this core neighborhood? Sometimes I wonder. I still stand by my assertion that the BDHH should have been built behind the jail downtown and not smack in the middle of a neighborhood. The city council was warned, the Catholic Diocese was warned and look where we are at, year round panhandling. I have told many councilors that they need to make it a city ordinance violation for someone to give to the panhandlers from their cars while in traffic. Post signs about the fine and law at the intersections where it most prevalent and it would end over a season. If you want to help these people, that is great, give your money to the Mission, the BDHH or the Banquet, or volunteer your time. You are not helping them by buying them their next can of Joose.

Items #27-40, We have 13 items that have to do with alcohol in our city in one meeting yet we think a plant is bad 🙁

Item #45, 1st Reading: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD, ESTABLISHING THE TAX INCREMENT REVENUES TO BE COLLECTED AND AUTHORIZING THE PAYMENT OF TAX INCREMENT REVENUES TO SIOUX FALLS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, INC., IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR TAX INCREMENTAL DISTRICT NO. TWENTY-THREE, CITY OF SIOUX FALLS.

This of course is the ridiculous notion we should give $94 million in tax rebates over 20 years to promote low wage companies to come to Sioux Falls while raising taxes on the rest of us. I have said all I can, but I implore the dwindling joke called the MSM in Sioux Falls to actually do a fact based story on what this TIF does to the rest of us, the pros and cons (there are no pros). There has been virtually radio silence from our media. While they focus on hamburger competitions and GPS tracking of food trucks or recycling the same story about Jason Ravnsborg’s lack of indictments they can’t wrap their heads around how bad this is. It’s a story that could be told easily;

• The Development Foundation will receive $94 million in tax rebates that they will pass onto mostly out of state and foreign companies that pay little to no federal income taxes, state taxes and low wages.

• The millions and even billions in valuation will be passed onto to citizens in higher property taxes and the state (which receives part of their sales taxes from taxing food) will have to make up the shortfall for school districts). This is all happening while our building permits are crushing records every year. Why do we need to give these incentives?

• This won’t occur over a year, or even 5 years, this will impact our taxes for 20 years and compound with interest.

• The jobs Flopdation Park will create will have to be brought in from out of our community and since most are barely living wages this will create a crime and affordable housing issue that will be even worse than what it is now. Remember, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, in fact we have one of the highest rates of single working moms and people with more than one job. This isn’t a ‘job creator’ for those of us that live here. Like the Events Center it will create a vacuum that sucks our economy dry by creating more poverty and crime while profits leave our community.

• While they deny it, this is growth for growth sakes that only enriches the Development Foundation, banks, developers and bond salesman while the taxpayers have to clean up the mess.

• It will also further deteriorate our core and proper neighborhoods in Sioux Falls which are the cornerstone for affordable home ownership because our infrastructure money will be funneled into a cornfield for an Egg Roll factory.

This is a bad idea, and I am still baffled why NOBODY in government or in the media is screaming bloody shame!?

Item #53, A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AMENDMENT ONE TO THE FIRST AMENDED MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA, AND WASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT, INC.

They had to amend the contract with the WPMI because of the new band deal. I still think they made this more complicated than they had to and saved the taxpayers $0. But hey, that’s innovation and CLOSED government for you!