Sioux Falls City Council Agenda, August 14, 2018
There will be presentations on the Entertainment tax, the Parks Department and Public Works.
There is also an executive session. It’s either about Legacy again (doubtful) or about hiring a new Internal Auditor (most likely).
Item #8, Approval of Contracts. Apparently it costs $53K to engineer a masonary viewing platform. Wow.
Item #15, Resolution, City Council’s Legislative Priorities.
Item#6;Â The Sioux Falls City Council supports tax increment financing (TIF), an economic development tool that has led to millions of dollars in increased property value, benefitting both the state as a whole and the local entities sponsoring the districts, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the process.
Notice NO mention of how this benefits the community or supplies sustainable jobs. Why not just call it what it is; developer welfare. Tax breaks that they use to pay the mortgage.
Item #16, Resolution, Street Vacation. There is NO mention of WHO wants this vacation (developer). Hopefully we will learn more Tuesday night. I don’t have a problem with street vacations if they are no longer needed. It saves taxpayers money, because we no longer have to maintain the property. It also puts it on the tax rolls. Where I take issue is giving away the land to a private developer. They should have to pay for it, at least 50% of appraised value. Remember the street vacation for Billion auto? That property was probably worth around a million dollars, we gave it away. Dumb.
Item #17, Motion. This is a mystery. I assume it has to do with the lawsuit against the city over the drowning of a girl. I wonder if they are trying to negotiate a settlement.