Who says Republicans won’t vote to raise your taxes? The Sioux Falls City Council is controlled by a Republican mayor and a Republican majority, and this week they all voted to raise taxes on downtown properties:
Sioux Falls City Council unanimously approved a tax hike proposal for downtown Sioux Falls Tuesday night.
The plan removes a cap that has been in place for over 30 years.
The money will go toward services such as street sweeping, snow removal, and various improvements [staff, “Downtown Sioux Falls Tax Increase to Come,” KSFY, 2022.12.21].
Those “various improvements” include marketing and some other frippery, but on the good side, this tax increase has a progressive flavor, kicking in only on properties worth more than a million dollars:
…the change would affect 88 buildings in the district and bring in another $160,000 per year, and estimated that Cherapa Place’s expansion and the Sioux Steel district could account for another $115,000.
The previous formula placed a $1,500 cap on building value and $200 cap on land value, so whether a building was valued at $1 million or $10 million, owners couldn’t be charged more than $1,700.
As changed, the formula will retain the ratio of $1.50 per $1,000 for the first $1 million of a building’s value, along with the ratio of $1 per $1,000 for the first $200,000 of the land’s value.
But a new tier of the tax is now set at $0.50 per every $1,000 of a building’s value over $1 million, and $0.50 per every $1,000 of the land’s value past $200,000 [Trevor J. Mitchell, “Raven Has ‘No Intention’ of Leaving as Downtown Sioux Falls Tax Increase Approved,” Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 2022.12.20].
That new tax could push rent at the swanky new Loft 224 over the $6,000 mark. But hey, new snow shovels and welcome signs are worth it, right? Sioux Falls’s Republican mayor and city councilors think so.
Just think..if mayor Paul hadn’t been such a liar and opponent to legalizing marijuana they could have brought in that money (and more) without raising taxes.
Republicans are faux fiscal conservatives. Glance at our combined sales tax rate of 7.5%, which is among the highest in the nation.
For clarification, this only really affects property owners with properties over $1 million. I have told DTSF in the past that instead of a tax increase why not ask the city to handle maintenance DT using parking fees and let DTSF work on marketing and promotion with their share of the money. If DTSF didn’t have to do so much maintenance DT they would have plenty of funds for their mission.
Sioux Falls is just another wretched town in a wracked state so it’s good Mr. Ehrisman still has the energy to tell people what to do there.