January 20 is the date for a special election relating to a Rapid City TIF district. The long-controversial Libertyland theme park will now have its fate in the hands of local voters.
The battle first played out in City Council chambers, but after approval, opponents quickly took to the streets and organized a widely successful petition effort to put the matter on a ballot.
At this week's council meeting, that date was set with proponents wanting to move as quickly as possible. Joel Brannan is the Libertyland destination district project manager.
"I would really encourage the City Council to take this to a special election," Brannan said. "I think this will bring in an enormous amount of sales revenue tax this city uses to fund the streets, the police force and all the amenities the citizens of Rapid City enjoy today.”
However, opponents argue this should be a longer process connected to the general municipal elections. That includes TIF opponent and Rapid City resident James Biolotta
“If it can’t be done in the next month, why wouldn’t you wait until the next month when the cost would be much, much less," Biolotta said. "That’s all I have to say at that.”
While special elections are indeed an added cost to communities, the final selected date in January is months out from the general in June. Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Maher said it’s time to get the debate finished.
“Let’s have the election," Maher said. "Let’s talk about this project the election. Let’s not delay for eight months because that really stops economic development in Rapid City.”
Despite Maher’s concerns about business interests, the most recent reported tally shows Rapid City with 15 active TIF districts primarily supporting other economic development projects, not including those in the rest of Pennington County.