An eager reader sends me a photo of a Dakota Dunes service truck with official exempt entity municipal license plates:
Dakota Dunes is not, however, a municipality. It is a master-planned community, essentially a private company that owns a lot of land where residents pay for the privilege of living and playing golf. Dakota Dunes has formed a “community improvement district,” a statutory creature which has the authority to levee property taxes; unlike municipalities, Dakota Dunes cannot levee sales tax.
The Department of Revenue issues fee-exempt license plates to “Any motor vehicle that is the property of this state, the United States, a county, a township, a municipality, a public or nonpublic school accredited by the Department of Education, an Indian mission school in this state, an Indian tribe, a fire department, or any bus or van owned by a church….”
So wait—Dakota Dunes is not any of those public creatures, but they have public, fee-exempt plates?
I wondered if maybe community improvement districts count as municipal entities, but the Department of Revenue tells me no:
Special districts such as sanitary and improvement districts do not qualify for exempt entity license plates. Only entities specifically listed in SDCL 32-5-42 qualify for these license plates [South Dakota Department of Revenue, e-mail response to Dakota Free Press, 2019.05.31].
Improvement districts do not qualify for exempt entity license plates. Yet an exempt entity license plate appears to have made it onto a Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District vehicle. Hmmm… Dakota Dunes didn’t swipe some plates from their officially municipal neighbors in North Sioux City, did they?
Funy. Poke a hornets nest of tax haven millionaires :)
Mosques in Sioux Falls and Brookings get free license plates? All other religious groups get free license plates? Catholic schools get taxpayer money through insurance companies? C’mon, man!
I, for one, blame a cadre of past Governors for having the fancy free license plates issued here. That number, 0065, must have been given out back in the Janklow administration, and renewed each year by the heinous Revenuers.
The more they have, the slimier and more skinflintish they become. Okay, not Everyone with more, but most. The best givers and donaters are those with the least, as a %age of what they have.
Let me guess, DD is overwhelmingly red politically?
Debbo, DD is the body of the gerrymander with a long neck that follows the I state up to where Elk Point becomes the head. And, yes, I believe the critter is red in color! The good citizens of Union County get to provide them with police and fire protection. When a flood threatens everybody in the state jumps to, to protect them as well. Ask Dan Lederman about it. He lives there and I’m sure he can tell you all about it. It is in South Dakota….why wouldn’t it work that way?
No doubt Clyde. Thanks.
Fire off a whistleblower complaint to the IRS, too. Bet a dime on a dollar those residents are deducting their property and road and sewer/water fees illegally since the DDunes are not a state-recognized subordinate government.
Mr. John, do you have a blue link to where one can fill out forms? I bet you a donut and a dollar the state has blue links to turn in this nonsense too! Start with the Auditor of the State.
I’m a Dakota Dunes resident and I’m as appalled as you are about the free plates on the community improvement district truck. But don’t throw all the Dunes’ residents into one bowl full of rich, tax-dodging, Republicans. My wife and I live in an apartment along with many others that I’m sure don’t vote Republican. While we appreciate having a little bit more in our paychecks here, we certainly don’t like the poorly funded schools, low paid teachers, and deficient state highways in this backwards state. As for the wealthy part, I’m retired and have a fixed income and my wife works as an office manager for a social services organization. While I’m sure people living in many of the neighborhoods in Dakota Dunes are middle and upper middle class; they are certainly no different than the upper-middle class and higher neighborhoods anywhere in the state. There are no “rich folks” living in our apartment complex that I’ve seen or talked to. There are firefighters, teachers, retired people, factory workers, bookkeepers, construction laborers, stay-at-home parents, nurses, bank tellers, customer service reps, restaurant workers, and food processing workers.
Thanks for checking in, Gary, and reminding us that even Dan Lederman’s backyard has some diversity in viewpoint. Do you have any idea, Gary, how many Dakota Dunes CID trucks may be illegally plated, and when the CID got those improper exempt plates?
Curious: does the Dakota Valley school district get a boost compared to other districts from the property taxes in Dakota Dunes CID?
Do know that Dakota Valley is one of the nicest school’s in the area.
This state needs all the liberal minded folk’s it can muster! Glad you are on board! Hope you are influencing some of the hard heads down there!
There are firefighters, teachers, retired people, factory workers, bookkeepers, construction laborers, stay-at-home parents, nurses, bank tellers, customer service reps, restaurant workers, and food processing workers.
Pretty much a compendium of every class of Americans and others Drumpf has thrown under the bus. so the koch bros get more taxcuts.