Monday, October 31, 2011

Hello, I Am Calling on Behalf of Build It Now

Vernon Brown posted this message on Facebook:

I just received a call on behalf of Build It Now asking for my support. She emphasized no new taxes, no raised taxes.
-I asked her if Sioux Falls could raise taxes. She didn't know.
-I asked her the cost of construction. She didn't know.
-I asked her how much the city had to borrow to do the project. She didn't know.
-I asked her what the projected interest rate might be. She didn't know.
-Finally, I asked her what the annual debt service might be. She didn't know.
Amazing.


This isn't the first time I have heard about the lack of knowledge coming from a Build It Now caller. I wonder if these callers are even local people.

The prudent thing to do is at least have the basic information about the project you are representing so you can answer the basic questions about the event center you are representing. The depth of this message is a message in and of itself, good folks of Sioux Falls. Don't be confused with the facts, just Build It Now. Worry about the debt and how to operate it later.

9 comments:

  1. Since we are told by Huether that it will be profitable, we should also ask why he doesn't establish the new events center and arena as an enterprise fund just like water department and some of the other city funds?

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  2. Ask the caller if they've read the AECOM report and when they say "uh..no" Say "Oh, you aren't into fiction?"

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  3. if events centers are profitable, why don't we build 3?

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  4. Weak. These people are hired by the hour. The people that oppose this need to come up with Strong Arguments Against. So far, the Mayor has the momentum.

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  5. @Anonymous #4 With all due respect, if you have been following this Blog you would be aware of a myriad of sound, solid reasons for opposition.

    The manner in which the Mayor has promoted his event center is exactly what's wrong with the federal budget. Politicians borrowing against future generations must come to an end. If you don't have the funds to "Build it Now", you just can't build it.

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  6. I do follow this Blog. There have been some solid reasons put forth. The best one is that the consultants put a pretty Rosy Picture together in their forecast. They should have also been pressed to put together an alternative analysis of What If. Like the Income is less than they project.

    But, the Mayor still has the momentum in this thing. And, I did not say I liked it.

    Too much personal attacks on the Mayor and not enough Why Not.

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  7. There are so many unknowns in this project it is scary. I watched one of the Mayor's earlier presentations, and some of the people asked the mayor if they would have to pay for parking at the complex. The mayor hemmed and hawed, and said he didn't know what might happen after he was gone, but he did not advise them that there would be a cost for parking- something a lot of people will be surprised about when they go to tailgate and see games. That is a small issue, but one that has been over looked and not shared with the public.

    The really big concern is that there is no tenant for the facility, and the city is saying there will be 35 conventions per year- this is not happening anywhere. And the Pheasants Forever group - bringing in 100,000 people to SF for a convention! They would have to find hotel rooms in Sioux City. This is all nonsense.

    There are a few conventions that will come if it is built, but not enough to support the facility. There will also be no jobs other than short term construction, and part time servers. A sad way to get economic growth.

    A payment of $9 million per year has to come from somewhere, and it is the second penny sales tax. That tax is used for a lot of things, and it will now be used for the debt repayment - and nothing else. Then there will be the subsidy issue - saying "I told you so" is not a good remedy, and it will be all that anyone has to hold on to when we have the debt and insufficient income to make the facility work.

    It is a great time to borrow money and build a big facility. But that is not a good reason, and that is all we have heard.

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  8. Did you see the AL piece about the new hotel Hegg, Lloyd & Schoeneman are building? Awesome $20 million project showing that even with no EC, they and their banks are willing to make that investment.

    In contrast, the AECOM report tossed out a commercial development estimate of $5.1 million for the Arena + EC project, IIRC. So apparently they figured, what a 25 room Motel 6 will going in?

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  9. @8:01PM...

    Too bad it was the only proposal the city recieved (and they were confused as to why). Just think what the submissions would've been like had the city decided to make a large investment of its own in downtown.

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