Will the TIF application process change

by

Hard to say how this will be voted on when the 2nd reading comes around (Item#8)

The proposed change in language;

tif-amend

I do know that Jamison, Staggers & probably Anderson will vote for the change. I know that Rolfing, Karsky and Erpenbach are against the change. But the debate on both sides will be interesting to listen to, especially those that are up for re-election. I can’t wait to hear Erpenbach’s defense of the lack of transparency. It might just get a challenger to crawl out from under a rock.

Double Standard on Annexation?

by

We will pull all the stops for Walmart, not so much for little property owner;

The residents of Prairie Meadows subdivision get many of the benefits of living near Sioux Falls.

They drive the streets, their kids go to Sioux Falls schools and they have city sewer service.

But the 75 homes in the subdivision near 41st Street and Tea-Ellis Road aren’t in the city. Technically, they’re in Wayne Township.

“They should be part of Sioux Falls,” said Jeff Schmitt, head of planning and zoning for the city.

If that happens — and the 89-acre area has been the subject of annexation talks for years — residents could pay $25,000 per lot for improvements to streets and utilities.

Not sure what to think of this, but when the city/state is willing to put millions into infrastructure/traffic upgrades for Walmart then turn around and charge thousands for the same thing, makes you wonder a bit.

SF Planning Commission Chair to get a city loan for affordable housing

by

22apartmentsLARGE

 

This is something I harp on all the time, the city contributing more to affordable housing;

“We are pleased to award $350,000 to Grandview LLC, owned by Mr. Ken Dunlap, for the purpose of constructing Westwood Apartments,” Community Development Director Darrin Smith said.

“We have heard for a long time about the need for affordable housing. Well, I call that the talk. Doing the talk. But I think what we’re looking at today is kind of doing the walk with it,” Ken Dunlap with Grandview LLC said.

Darrin Smith with Community Development says the money from the city will be given as a loan, to be paid back over the next 32 years.

Hey, sounds like a great program, and it is, BUT . . . am I the only one that thinks this is a conflict of interest that the development company Planning Commission Chair Ken Dunlap is involved with is getting this loan from the city?

Yes, his position is a volunteer one, but a part of me just says this isn’t right (ethical). I’m starting to wonder if there is any board/council member in this city anymore that is simply doing the job for the value of good government instead of self-interest?

While the inner city deteriorates, we build, out, out, out!

by

flat-earth-society1

I won’t go into any specifics, but I did get a good belly role from this statement;

Schmitt acknowledges there are dangers with spreading out, but the city stops short of saying it will create hard boundaries to limit Sioux Falls’ footprint. Cities such as Boulder, Colo., and Portland, Ore., have done that.

“They’ve said, ‘This is it, this is as big as we’re going to be, and you have to stay within these boundaries,’ and both of them have preservation areas outside there where you can’t just go outside the area and start building,” Schmitt said.

He doesn’t see that happening here.

“I’ve spoken at three or four national conventions on how Sioux Falls does it, and people go, ‘You have got to be kidding me, so you’re not Boulder, but you’re not Vegas, either?’ ” Schmitt said. “That’s why we’re good. We’re not great, not bad, but we’re able to put a sewer pipe in, and say, if you want to grow, you have to go where we’re telling you, when we’re telling you.”

Unless you of course are Walmart or the Lloyd companies, because we will follow you to the ends of the freaking earth to give you what you want.

Excuses are like . . .

by

Director of Excuses for the city of Sioux Falls, Darrin Smith, seems to think adding a couple of pages to the TIF application form would be to difficult to do;

“It’s one of those things that sounds really good in theory, but it’s very difficult to do in reality,” Community Development Director Darrin Smith said of the requirement to list investors.

He said the city asks who the principal investors are, but it would be burdensome to list everyone and keep the list up to date as more investors sign on as development progresses.

As mayor Huether would say, “That’s a bunch of crap!” First off, it wouldn’t add any extra processes to the application process and secondly, as other councilors have pointed out, we need transparency on these matters;

Councilor Kermit Staggers sides with Jamison. He said city officials should not be invested in local development projects.

“We have to keep in mind when people are involved in investing in a project that has a TIF, they’re getting a government benefit, and the public should be aware of that,” he said during council discussion this fall.

Councilor Kenny Anderson Jr. also voiced his agreement. “I just feel if you’re asking for public money, we should know who you are,” he said.

And my favorite (LOL) line of the article;

“As a development (Lloyd) company, these investors are very near and dear to our heart, and we consider their names intellectual property,” Koepsell told the council this fall.

Intellectual property!? Have you been getting law advice from FOX news and Citizens United?

First off, if there is nothing to hide about a project you are investing in that may get tax benefits, who cares if your name is on a sheet of paper filed in the planning department’s file cabinet? I have never understood this secrecy boloney when it comes to development investing in this community. Nobody cares if you have the money to invest in these projects, privately. But once you start asking for government handouts (really what they are) then you need to be transparent. Are these investors ashamed they are asking for a bailout, like a single mom using her SNAP card at the grocery store?

And the excuses are abound, leave it up to councilor censorship, Erpenbach to defend the practice;

She wouldn’t want to discourage investors from signing on to TIF projects, said Councilor Michelle Erpenbach.

Remember, we must shield the public from the truth and transparency. Erpenbach’s stance doesn’t surprise me one bit. Besides, I doubt this would discourage anyone, in fact, I think receiving a TIF for a project you are investing in would make that investment more NOT less appealing. And let’s face it, full disclosure isn’t going to stop or slow development in this town, just read this SFBJ article;

“It will be all over, on every side of town,” said Mike Cooper, the city’s director of planning and building services. “We’re going into 2014 much like we ended 2013, with a significant amount of interest in all areas of development.”

Replicating the record-setting pace of 2013 will be tough. Building permit valuations surged toward $600 million, and there was growth in nearly every category, from commercial to residential. Businesses continue to look at relocating or expanding in Sioux Falls.

I did appreciate a little bit of honesty in the article by one realtor;

From Michael Bender’s perspective, however, the outlook is “kind of tepid.”

“We’re certainly busy and there seems to be activity … but it’s mostly corporate. It’s more bigger deals than local deals,” said Bender, the principal of Bender Commercial Real Estate Services. “It’s a bit of moving forward, and there are people doing that, but there are a lot of people saying, ‘Let’s slow down a bit.’ ”

Bender makes a good point, while the big boys in town and out of state corporate interests are going big in Sioux Falls, the average lowly resident taxpayer of Sioux Falls is picking up the tab for infrastructure for this growth, which I believe is unsustainable when you factor in the low wages in Sioux Falls. And even planning director, Cooper admits just who is ‘building’ in the private sector, and it ain’t the poor hump working at some cubicle Hell job;

“But what we’re missing is the entry-level housing,” he said. “We’re not building those anymore. It’s the upper end of the market.”

So Sioux Falls is all well and dandy, as long as you are rich and keep everything a secret.