Hard for me to answer that question since this item on the Sioux Falls city council informational meeting has no attached documents;
• Sioux Falls for all initiative
Doesn’t that sound lovely?
If you do a little digging and talk to a few moles and rats at city hall you get another picture (these items are of course speculation from said rats and moles);
• The city has already spent some of the money on paying off debt, which seems odd since most of these bonds have a 2% interest rate. While I am strongly against cities borrowing money anyway, I think the wise move would have been spending that money on helping people impacted by the pandemic instead of bond investors.
• There is supposedly around $22 million that still needs to be spent
Here are the items that they ‘might’ spend it on;
• $4 million on a decorative roof for the Pavilion
• Ice rink at Falls Park
• Hayward Park improvements
• 2nd Police Precinct
• Other projects in the mayor’s wish list.
Honestly, I think it would be difficult determining on how we should spend the money, and I think a large chunk of covid stimulus money is a complete waste, but one city official said it best, ‘Maybe we should put it away for a rainy day?’
Sure.
And does the city council even have a say in the matter? Well according to city charter, funding is their duty, not the mayor so why is this coming from his office?
There is also the little secret that while the Triage Center building fund is okay, there is no real plan for funding the operating costs. Maybe this would be a good place to spend it?
I fully understand it is hard to know what to do with Federal funding, but if I was a thinking man, I wouldn’t spend pandemic money on roofs and ice. Just saying.
“‘…. Police Precinct’?”….. “I thought those were words which couldn’t be utter together around here in the same sentence?”….
Don’t know what’s “hard” about deciding what to spend Covid relief dollars on. That cash comes with an instruction manual figuratively tiled, “How to Spend” and other strings attached.
Big mistake giving this city money meant for public health. This is the city that diverted federal levee funds to build the Denty; the city that awarded 90 million 10 years into the future to Amazon and Fortune Cookies; the city that built an empty parking skyscraper meant for a commercial hotel that didn’t happen; the city that built 6 indoor tennis courts for the mayors wife; the city that built a public bathhouse for the rich. This money could have gone to Covid relief. If not here, then where there’s democracy and patriotic politicians.
The 90+ million property tax relief was especially criminal. The county gets property tax but the city gives it away before it can be collected.
I am of the conspiratorial belief, that over the next twenty years, “they” plan to change the look of the Pavilion so that it better matches Washington Square. First, it was the east entrance, now the roof. It’s only a matter of time. You watch. #CorniceParapetRepairsMyAss
What’s next? A performance of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’? It’s truly a ‘West Side Story’, if you ask me. Perhaps, ‘Camelot’ is, in order, with, ‘I Wonder What The King (“they”) Is Doing Tonight’. (Sorry. 😉 )
Here is one such topic where I have the same interest as Scott. Yes, the City took Care Act Funds from the Federal Govt in order to sufficiently pay for city wide activities that where we supposedy lost tax revenues due from Covid.
“WE” apportioned some of those dollars to the brand new Police and Fire Academy and the Water Reclamation Project;
Like with businesses, the money could only be used for certain things, such as maintaining payroll, keeping people employed, and to help cover special needs of the city whereas the ‘city tax dollars’ decreased due to Covid.
Did we need them? No. Did we have a right to take them? Yes. After all, the people of Sioux Falls pay Federal Taxes everyday thru excises, duties, and imposts.
The CITY OF SIOUX FALLS takes in roughly $400,000,000 million a year in City Sales Taxes, Property Taxes, and Misc-Excises, Duties, Imposts. IT DOES NOT have a revenue problem, and it holds so many ‘assets’ that it is not even funny.
Get this – I said it before – IF ‘we’ were to shutdown the city, sell off all the assets, pay off all debts, liabilities, expenses, future employee obligations = we have enough money left over to give each “RESIDENT” a check for $10,000 dollars.
Think of that for a minute…
Mikey Z – ” IF ‘we’ were to shutdown the city, sell off all the assets, pay off all debts, liabilities, expenses, future employee obligations = we have enough money left over to give each “RESIDENT†a check for $10,000 dollars.
Think of that for a minute…”
Thought about it for ten seconds. How much does the annual cost of maintenance of “our” streets, sidewalks, and other necessary infrastructure run per capita? How long would that $10k/capita last in the face of that (and other ) NEEDS that “we” have in the case of continuing “our” fully habituated consumerist lifestyle? Or are you proposing some sort of anarchist total abandonment of sharing public works in favor of toll gates at every (libertarian) lot line?
I was showing people “HOW MUCH” revenue the CITY OF SIOUX FALLS has. Assets Owned. The CITY has no revenue problem, it takes in nearly $400,000,000 in tax revenues while the remaining $200,000,000 million comes from federal and state grants, loans, bonds, interest income, federal monetary funds.
Now, if we should ever shut down the city, agree to dissolute (give back to the property owners), the city has so much revenues, assets, that each “resident” would get $10,000 dollars.
Fact: the money would not go to each resident, the money would be divided up amongst all “Land Owners” whom hold property within the annexation borders.
9-6-1. Landowners’ petition to circuit court for dissolution by decree – Whenever a municipality shall have less than two hundred fifty population, the owners of a majority of the real property therein, both in area and assessed valuation, may petition the circuit court of the county in which such municipality or any part thereof is situated for the dissolution of the municipality.
9-6-9. Jurisdiction of municipal territory after dissolution–Power of municipal officers to wind up affairs.
After the entry of the judgment of dissolution the territory comprised in such municipality shall revert to the jurisdiction and control and shall become a part of the local subdivision or organization of which it would have been a part had it never existed.
Its governing body and other officers shall cease to possess any powers except that they shall remain in office and shall possess, under the direction of the circuit court, all powers necessary to the winding up of the corporate affairs of such municipality, including the power to levy and collect taxes to pay its indebtedness, and to make all orders necessary for the disposal of its property and for the proper distribution of the proceeds thereof. Such governing body and other officers shall remain in office for such purposes only for the period of six months after the entry of the judgment of dissolution unless the court entering such judgment shall order an extension of such period of six months for the purpose of permitting the affairs of such municipality to be fully closed.
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So , if we were to shut down and dissolve the city, all expenses, liabilities, debts, future employee obligations would be paid off as per the courts, the land would be distributed back to its prior sub-division before annexation, and the ‘land owners’ would be compensated for equally, or by court order.
The law would not grant any moneys to residents, as the residents are not the actual property owners less the fact they owned any land.
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I simply showed you how much revenue and assets ‘we’ as a collective CITY own as it relates to the residency.
The CITY has no revenue problem, has not lost any tax revenue, and I encourage all of you to buy a hard copy of the 2020 C.A.F.R which comes out each March to look at just how “WEALTHY” the City of Sioux Falls actually is.
In Closing – IF the city was ever dissolved, the profits remaining would be disbursed equally or by Percentage of a court order to all Land Owners; those LAND OWNERS would be responsible to build, maintain, and connect their “ROADS” to each other, just as those land owners of SPLIT ROCK TOWNSHIP and any township surrounding the City of Sioux Falls already do.
PRIVATE ROADS are paid for by private individuals whom wish to build their own private roads, and a group of private individuals whom wish to incorporate their land, or form a township then choose to “POOL” their assets to collect and raise revenue to fund common roads, utilities, pay for a Fire Protection Service, or purchase the right to use the City of Sioux Falls Police Department to secure them.
So, if theC9-6-9. Jurisdiction of municipal territory after dissolution–Power of municipal officers to wind up affairs.
After the entry of the judgment of dissolution the territory comprised in such municipality shall revert to the jurisdiction and control and shall become a part of the local subdivision or organization of which it would have been a part had it never existed.
Its governing body and other officers shall cease to possess any powers except that they shall remain in office and shall possess, under the direction of the circuit court, all powers necessary to the winding up of the corporate affairs of such municipality, including the power to levy and collect taxes to pay its indebtedness, and to make all orders necessary for the disposal of its property and for the proper distribution of the proceeds thereof. Such governing body and other officers shall remain in office for such purposes only for the period of six months after the entry of the judgment of dissolution unless the court entering such judgment shall order an extension of such period of six months for the purpose of permitting the affairs of such municipality to be fully closed.
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So, if the city would ever dissolve, all land or real property would be taken back by the “Property Owners” and the land would resort back to the previous Sub-Division Prior.
All profits left over would be divided up among all “Land Owners” equally or by an agreed percentage as per a court order.
Keep in mind, all PRIVATE ROADS are paid for by private land owners (individuals), and if a group of individuals choose to incorporate or form a township, they do so in order to pool their assets to raise revenues to connect those roads, share common utilities, form a volunteered Fire Department, or to buy the services of POLICE DEPARTMENT or SHERIFF DEPARTMENT to secure their boundaries. They may if they so choose purchased the right to use the Water and Water Reclamation Service of nearest City or Community by paying a “FEE” to use.
Example: Nordstrom’s Auto Recycling and the private land owners within the area, worked together to build that nice black top ‘road’ connecting County Roads I believe 267 and 265 to provide a nice entrance to Nordstroms Salvage Yard. “THEY” as a group raised money to build a private road.
– Mike Zitterich
How about defund city government and merge it with 2 counties? The counties balance their budgets with no debt. With an extra 400 mil annually, they’d better serve the area. Management redundancy would be minimized. Counties are honest and ethics could be enforced. There’d be no more paternalist directors of nothing in particular. It’s been done elsewhere and is proven. City corruption has reached a climax. Higher government has not intervened. There’s doubt they could since Home Rule Charter is a dictatorship.
Federal Covid relief is meant to help pandemic recovery. If one life is lost because of the disease or because of related familial suffering, it’s murder if the city misappropriated designated taxpayer funding. It’s money meant for citizens, not city pet projects and more play places.