Sioux Falls Progress; Citizens FIRST!

UPDATE: I just found out yesterday that if you are considering buying a home in Sioux Falls proper (Central/Downtown) you can apply for a Community Development loan to help pay closing costs. Depending on your credit qualifications this loan can be low interest to interest free in most cases and you only have to pay back 75% if you stay in the house for at least 5 years. Pretty cool.

Photo by Ehrisman, Falls Park Summer 2007

Progress in Sioux Falls can be achieved through economic development directed at citizens. The large development firms in Sioux Falls have squandered the city’s infrastructure budget on new projects and left our current infrastructure maintenance behind and in the red. Don’t be fooled by the lip service some city councilors, the mayor or deep pocketed developers give you. The money is there to maintain our current infrastructure, but there needs to be an overhaul on how we direct that money and projects that will have real economic impact on the citizens of Sioux Falls. I have listed suggestions on how the city can produce revenue, maintain current infrastructure while keeping taxes low in our city.

Double the size of the convention center. The convention center has proven that it has the potential to have an enormous impact on revenue in our city. We should make it larger and reap the benefits from it. Expanding the convention center will have a bigger impact then building a new events center. We will need an events center someday, but if you look at the attendance numbers at our current entertainment facilities it is very obvious that the need is another 7-10 years down the road. The state needs to do a major overhaul of our tax code first before it will be even possible to pay for it anyway, and I don’t see that happening for at least 3-4 years from now.

Eliminate the 1.92% food tax in Sioux Falls. Our city council has the power to do this. It would only apply to grocery items and not to hospitality. I think the largest city in the state should set a moral and ethical example and end this regressive tax.

Build a road through the current location of Minnehaha country club. This project could be a joint effort with federal and state dollars. Once the land is obtained and the country club moves we could use the leftover fare ways for a state campground and hiking trails. Like a Sioux Falls version of New York’s central park. The city and state could obtain fees from campground rental. The new road would also encourage more shopping from people living on the East side of town and ease traffic on 41st and 12th street. 

Promote selling older homes to new families downtown and central Sioux Falls with mortgages that include an automatic community development equity loan for remodeling, rebuilding and landscaping. This will only work if we can convince construction and landscaping companies to focus on rebuilding projects instead of new development through tax incentives, and lower development fees. If we want to rebuild neighborhoods we need to do it with families and individual property owners not pawn shops, casinos and strip malls. This is a no-brainer that the bureaucrats in city hall haven’t figured out yet, or refuse to accept.

Have a central management company to schedule events at the Pavilion Great Hall, Arena, Orpheum etc. and instead of paying a set salary to the company, pay them commission on how well the events are attended and profit. I guarantee you will only get entertainment in Sioux Falls that people actually want to see, and you will produce enough revenue to take risks on entertainment that may be unique to the region.

Hire a full-time commission based realtor to sell off the city’s unused property and obsolete rarely utilized parks.

Relax rules on public art by letting business owners decide on what art or murals can be on the exterior of their businesses. Simplify the rules/ordinances so they don’t have to go through the Visual Arts Commission for approval each time. A variety of visual art would lively up the business sector and make certain parts of the city more appealing. Public art now is controlled by a select group of insiders that wouldn’t know a Rodin if it fell on them.

I know my suggestions are short on details, but worth looking at. Progress in a city can only take place if you involve the citizens and creative thinkers with lawmakers. It seems city hall’s answer to progress is increasing taxes and inflating the city budget. You can actually progress while being fiscally wise. Don’t forget the most important part, it is our money they are spending, we should expect a good return on it.