We have officially known for weeks the city intends to withdraw a $70 million dollar bond, we have known this amount since October unofficially. So if you know what you are going to spend for months and months, that tells me you know exactly what is being purchased with that amount. There of course is talk of an indoor facility and an outdoor facility. There is also some rumors floating around about some ‘ideas’ thrown into the mix.
So what is the city hiding?
The current city council, in which 4 of them are leaving in May, have requested to vote on the bonds before the May 21st meeting where the new councilors are installed.
• The city has known since last Fall the price tag of the bonds (a number that was likely concocted by the bonding company, and not the city or engineers.)
• They haven’t released details of what we are getting for the money yet.
• Parks Board plans to review the bonds and approve them around April 15 or later. The council won’t get a PUBLIC presentation of the details of the bonds until April 30 (even though they already know what’s in them) and then will have to do a first and second reading before the last meeting of this council on May 14th. Essentially giving citizens only a few weeks to digest $70 million in bonds that there will be NO public vote on (we really should have voted on the bonds since there is already an election, such a missed opportunity . . . but when you are a closed government militant, this is how things are done.)
As for the rumors, I won’t comment because some of the things being said are so ludicrous, I doubt the administration is exploring them, but you never know.
So like the Delbridge Animals secret, the administration is sitting on the details of the bonds. Why? Because the are likely trying to hide something, and even if a couple of the rumors are true, something is going to hit the fan, and it won’t be dead monkey crap.
*I was also told last night that the city subsidizes the Midco to the tune of $1.2 million a year (it costs $2.2 to operate and they collect $1 million in fees.) And that is just an indoor pool. Can you imagine what it will cost to operate one or two more of these facilities that also include a fitness area and pools? The mayor also intends to purchase the Riverline District property from Lloyd in the 2025 budget ($8 or $9 million) and plans to push for a $300 million dollar bond in 2029 for a new Convention Center. Not sure where the city is going to get the tax revenue to pay off all this stuff, but it is starting to become ridiculous. There is ZERO economic benefit to the bottom line of the average taxpayer. A better way to spend that money is to build a modern public transit system that hooks into the Airport and Passenger rail service. The impact of people from rural towns in the midwest coming to Sioux Falls for shopping and recreation would be a much greater impact then 4-5 conventions a year.
The city is organized crime. Not only is public money misappropriated but unrealized future revenue disappears. Strong Mayor Charter is out of control. The Parks Department will have the city ‘Swimming’ in debt. What’s needed is reorganization in the form of a new constitutional democratic charter. Present and future elected councilors are the syndicate that will be investigated. Think hard before you run for council. You’re gonna get caught. It’s the dictator mayor in authoritarian city government whose responsible, not you.
The purpose of government is to serve, not to operate like a for-profit business. Aways kills me to see skinflint penny-pinchers thinking there is some other purpose. It never ceases.
Food for Thought: If you are a Mayor that has consistently paid off the current debt from the previous administration, and has not taken out much in bonds over the past six years, and understanding that the City can sell up to 5% in bond values up to the Total Property Evaluations in the city, which is close to $17,000,000,000 billion dollars, the city can borrow as much as $900,000,000 million. Estimating, that most bonds are 30 year notes for these large projects, your speaking of $30,000,000 in bond payments plus interest. So, if city took out a $300,000,000 million b ond, our bond payments plus interest is $300 million plus $1 million in interest, roughly. The landoners and property holders hold the bonds…unless the city government is attempting to go out and seek foreign-born bond holders from outside the City limits…
Don the con
One can never guess what slickery Paul has cooking or what details he is hiding. His mentality of wanting all his wishlist items fulfilled before his term ends is getting old and becoming a constant monetary burden on this communities taxpayers. Another project / purchase involving Lloyd of course. As often as this Mayor is in bed with that company, they probably have a California King by now.
It’s true, there is a sobering roughly $1m annual subsidy cost to keep the Midco Aquatic Center open. However, this was indeed laid out in the proposal presented before the project was approved. The necessary subsidy was projected to start at roughly $750k for year one, and steadily increase as the facility ages and needs increasing & more costly upkeep. Not pretty, but this aspect of transparency was not opaque.
Caesar had his Ides of March. 370 million without a vote deserves a formal investigation.
WTF is a landoner ?
To mike and all apologists for the expansive status quo, many have been working for years to take away the ability to easily bond. Tenhaken has not been paying off bonds any faster or harder than what is legally possible under the bond agreements. The city should not be able to bond without a public vote. The 2nd penny must not be wasted on vanity projects where a mayor gets to put their names permanently attached. The city must not borrow money from the bonders so the city compete against people Who have an existing business. The existing business ends up having to pay for their competition. How fair is that?