Looks like there’s trouble in Rapid City, as Senator Taffy Howard and the Citizens for Liberty are now at war with a former ally of theirs that they used to be connected at the hip with. If you’re not familiar with what’s going on, this is all surrounding the development of Liberty Land Amusement Park in Rapid City, and the Tax Increment Financing they were awarded to help make this huge Economic Development Project a reality:
The TIF would cap at around $125 million to support the development of Libertyland USA. Thirteen percent of the generated increment would go Rapid City to support surrounding infrastructure.
Alongside the planned theme park are plans for a neighboring retail and commercial center. The proposed district now heads to the full city council for approval. Rapid City Tax Increment Financing Planner Mike Dugan says the city says the project will be a great economic driver for the city.
But did I say there’s trouble in Rapid City? Possibly because South Dakota has a BANANA problem as of late, where we’re infested with people who insist upon “building absolutely nothing anywhere near anything.” So, of course, the huge liberty themed project has run up against a roadblock of the Citizens for Liberty, who have come out against Liberty. Liberty Land, that is. They’re going to war with the patriotic themed amusement park.
As noted in the Rapid City Journal:
Two strong opponents since the first time Libertyland passed are state Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, who represents District 34, and Tonchi Weaver of South Dakota Citizens for Liberty. Both have taken to the podium many times at council, finance committee and planning commission meetings to express their concerns with the Tax Increment Financing District. They’re spearheading the petition drive.
In the article on-line is a picture of Tonchi Weaver, and Julie Frye-Awful of the legislative suckling scandal who are both out campaigning against Liberty (land). Citizens for Liberty has also taken to social media to campaign against Liberty (land):
So, in the face of the Citizens for Liberty’s opposition to Liberty (Land), what do the Liberty Land developers do? Apparently, they have gone and hired someone to organize the anti-petition effort, which has started with social media…
Umm… why does that design work look familiar? Overly wordy, and the identical same all-caps font that I could spot from a million miles away that is used time and time again?
We can assume that would be the same person that the Citizens for Liberty claimed in their post that “The developer of Libertyland has hired a political operative who is now working to impede the petition signature-gathering process.” In a social media post that was flagged for me today, my suspicions were just confirmed, and this just got much, much funnier.
Senator Taffy Howard just confirmed that she and Tonchi Weaver are now at war with self-styled ultra-conservative political consultant Jordan Mason. And it gets more hilarious from there. Why? Let me explain.
Jordan has had a business out collecting petition signatures in Rapid City, including the measure to place increased tobacco taxes on the ballot in 2018. Who has been a long-time petition circulator for Jordan? Tonchi Weaver. But it just gets better. Who has Jordan done quite a bit of work for, most notably in her run for Congress? Taffy Howard.
These are all people who have had a somewhat close association with each other for some time. Yet, now it seems like Jordan is on the outs with Tonchi and Taffy, as everyone is fully on the attack.
Get your popcorn. And see if you can figure out if you want to cheer for Satan, Lucifer or Azmodeous in this battle of the far-right in Rapid City.
The real irony is the fact that Taffy has repeatedly voted to suppress/limit the petition process.
This is Taffy and her crew’s M.O. I watched her group she associates with try and shut down a non-TIF project for needed housing on vacant land between Rapid City and the Ellsworth based on the influx of Airmen coming into the area. E1s and E2s can’t afford 5 acre ranchettes. They didn’t like the density of the housing because it was in their backyards. They all call each other Patriots and We The People but they are anti-development unless it fit’s their agenda. Most of millennials are waking up to this. Their generation has put my generation in a bind and they have no vision, it’s only no, not in my backyard. In a social media post Taffy indicated that the new high paying jobs that will be added in this TIF district will take workers from other businesses, hurting existing businesses. Sounds like free market and capitalism to me.
rising water floats all boats and knuckleheads.
“high paying jobs that will be added in this TIF district”
LOL! You added “high paying” to your description of Howard’s criticism of this project, didn’t you? Those jobs will be low level jobs with scant compensation, typical of a Black Hills hospitality business. They’ll rely upon international workers with seasonal work visas. The real competition will not be for the level of compensation paid to employees, but rather for the allocation of work visa employees – another process through which government picks winners.
“Sounds like free market and capitalism to me.”
I think it’s cute that you invoke these buzzwords as an attempt to validate as “free market capitalism” a business which received a $125 million gift from City government.
Maybe I don’t understand TiFs fully. I thought they could only be used to fund municipal infrastructure (streets, water, sewer) that the city would eventually be responsible for as growth increases in these TIF districts? Are you saying the developer is gonna be able to use this 125 million for their own personal infrastructure (single family homes, stores, rollercoasters)?
Please investigate the details of this TIF.
Only ~$5 million of this TIF are for municipal infrastructure improvements.
Much of the rest is toward finance expenses for the developer and City (since distribution from the TIF is ~85+% to the developer, you get a flavor of whose finance expenses are being recovered with the TIF) and “discretionary” – from the TIF document on file with the City of Rapid City, “Discretionary Costs and Grants will be used for the development of the Commercial and Entertainment Zone and amenities of the Resort Village. These funds will also be used for professional service costs; including costs incurred for architectural, planning, engineering and legal advice & services.”
I had a more detailed reply crafted 2 weeks ago, but it would not post, despite many attempts.
Also from the document for this TIF:
“No payment or grant may be used for any residential structure pursuant to § 11-9-42.
Residential structures are not eligible TIF items.
The roller coaster? Highly likely as an “amenity”
Revised title:
….That’s trouble with a T, that stands for Taffy”
Young Ms. Taffy is oft misunderstood. Insaner than most, for sure she is, but her heart is in the right place. It is her brain inside that pretty little head that is very ugly with thoughts.
Because business plans designed to pass political smell tests always work out sooo well.
Exactly. Just another in a very long line of pie in the sky projects promoters come up with to fleece a couple more bucks from Mt Rushmore tourists. How’d that presidents park, wax museum, Deadwood train, etc. etc. etc work out?
Hey, hey, now. The wax museum is doing just fine. They have mini-golf too.
https://www.presidentialwaxmuseum.com
The wax museum is awesome in Keystone! Also, Rapid City doesn’t necessarily have an unemployment problem rather an UNDER employment problem. My opinion is that this TIF district will spurn industry to move to RC and the BH area.
One of the biggest issues my Republican friends in Rapid City are focused on is the longstanding Republican principle against the government picking winners and losers. The Rapid City area has a lot of mom and pop campgrounds that simply will not be able to compete with this project. And that’s OK – competition is good. But for these businesses to pay taxes to give to a company that will probably put them out of business doesn’t make a lot of sense to them. I haven’t heard one complaint about this development other than how the TIF is structured.
Is the TIF money going to pay for the infrastructure inside this new campground. I was under the assumption that the TIF pays for the new streets, sewer, and water but the developer is responsible for everything as far as running the infrastructure from the curb throughout the property. I might be wrong. Who paid for the water, streets, and sewer that service the existing “mom and pop” campgrounds? I am guessing mom and pop didn’t pay for all the infrastructure and then turn around and hand it over to the city? My taxes are keeping this mom and pop services with water, sewer and streets to the curb of their property just as my taxes would provide infrastructure to any new development.