TIF districts are a controversial use of tax dollars, especially when the public is opposed to what those dollars are funding. In Rapid City, strong opposition led to one major TIF being put to a special election.
Libertyland is a proposed theme park for the Black Hills and is slated to be the beneficiary of a TIF district.
While the district passed City Council, it faced steep opposition from members of the public to the point petitioners succeeded in placing the theme park on the ballot for a special election.
A TIF district utilizes taxpayer dollars to fund items, typically related to infrastructure, as an incentive for developers to move to an area.
Most often, this is for “economic” or business purposes. Less often the mechanism is used for industrial development, and even less still to build affordable housing.
The main opposition comes from the ‘No Free Rides’ campaign. Organizers say this is a bad use of taxpayer dollars. Tonchi Weaver spoke on behalf of the group at a recent press conference outside Rapid City Hall. She said the opposition campaign to the petition effort has an ironic twist.
“They embarked on a campaign called ‘decline to sign’, does that sound familiar? They spent a lot of money trying to convince people not to sign the petition," Weaver said. "So, they did not want us to have the liberty to vote on this issue. It makes me wonder, is liberty just a theme or a belief?”
Indeed, as the petition effort was gaining steam, radio ads and digital billboards appeared across Rapid City that, while not naming the TIF issue specifically, encouraged the public to decline to sign petitions.
Another leader in the battle against this TIF is Rapid City Republican Sen. Taffy Howard. She said a theme park is not her idea of useful TIF implementation.
“As an elected official representing this city at the state level, it’s sad to me when I hear people look to us in Rapid City as the biggest abuser of TIFs. That’s wrong," Howard said. "We need to go back to the original intention of TIFs, which is redeveloping blighted areas.”
A special election on the Libertyland TIF is scheduled for January 20. A no vote in that election is a vote against the TIF and Libertyland, while a yes vote supports it.