If you support our initiative to lower sales taxes I encourage you attend or watch the council meeting tonight at 7 PM. You can either watch it LIVE on cable channel 16 or online LIVE at http://siouxfalls.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2.
Our group will be confronting the council about the legality of borrowing money against a higher tax rate, in essence possibly ending our petition drive and tying the hands of future councils and mayors to reduce our taxes.
The Argus Leader wrote an article today on the matter;
A group of residents trying to lower the sales tax rate in Sioux Falls fears that tonight’s City Council vote to authorize $38 million in new bonds could undercut their efforts.
The group, Citizens for a Responsible Sales Tax, is collecting signatures to put the sales tax question to a citywide vote. If the group collects enough signatures, voters would have the choice of keeping the city’s share of sales tax at 2 percent or dropping it to 1.9 percent.
But the decision to issue bonds could put a stop to that effort because the South Dakota Constitution says that any revenue source pledged to pay off bonds or other debts is “irrepealable” until the debt is paid off.
Even if this ordinance would not undercut our effort I find it fiscally irresponsible to borrow money that we have to pay interest on for 20 years if there is a good possibility we will be getting the money interest free from Washington to do the project with the only disadvantage being we may have to wait an extra 12 months to move dirt. Big Whoop.
“It is kind of ironic that this is the way it’s going – that someone in Minneapolis is telling us about South Dakota law,” Staggers said.
Amundson said Sunday that bond work is highly specialized, one reason he wants Aby to render an opinion. Amundson also thinks the people working for the initiated measure should get their own opinion from their own lawyer.
“I think the person who it comes from is the attorney for the people who file the initiative,” he said.
Once again, another Munson political appointee forgets who pays his wages and who he works for. The people. We own the city, not the mayor. It seems he thinks his job is defending Munson from the very people who pay his salary and elected him. I think it may be time for him to reread his job description.
It’s unclear what, if any, effect today’s bond vote will have on efforts to lower the sales tax. Portions of the tax already are pledged to pay off other bonds. But in two previous citywide elections, the administration of Mayor Dave Munson has come out on the losing end – once to raise the sales tax to pay for a recreation center and once to borrow $12 million to build an indoor swimming pool.
And that is what is making us suspicious. If Munson can’t beat us at the polls, he’ll try to beat us with the horribly written state laws we have. Go figure. I have to be honest with you. If this does make the ballot I have no idea which way the vote will go. There will be a lot of support and good arguments on both sides. This isn’t about that, it’s about letting the citizens decide and educating the community on the spending spree Mr. Munson has been on.
Please join us tonight. I’ll be the one wearing the cowboy hat and boots.