A group of Rapid City petition circulators want voters to decide on an ordinance passed by city council that changes how a pool of money for community projects is dispersed.
It’s called the Vision Fund, and it’s generated by a half-cent municipal sales tax.
The fund is unique to Rapid City. It was established following the Black Hills Flood of 1972 to build the Rapid City Civic center. Officials estimate it will bring in $17.5 million in 2025.
About a third of the money is used to pay down the new arena at the civic center.
Earlier this year the Rapid City Common council changed an ordinance that removes the citizen committee process. The changes were met with steep opposition from the public but were ultimately passed.
Marci Burdick is a citizen circulating petitions to put the ordinance change up for a vote. Burdick said she worries the change could lead to the fund being used to cover municipal projects, rather than arts or cultural enrichment for the community.
“This is a fundamental and wholesale shift in a fund that was set up by the voters with a specific intent and with specific guardrails around it," Burdick said. "The city now, for purposes of ease or whatever reason, want to take the guardrails out and the citizen involvement out.”
The June ordinance change is part of an effort by Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun to map out the next five years of vision fund allocations. He said this change will get the vision fund back to its original intention—which is prioritizing public projects. Salamun also wants the money to go toward economic development and strategic growth efforts—as well as a non-profit endowment.
No plan for the vision fund has been adopted, yet.
With just days left before the deadline, circulator Burdick said petitioners are pounding pavement.
“Go to virtually any public gathering in the next few days, so the municipal band concert, Main Street Square ahead of the municipal band concert, the Parkview softball fields tomorrow starting at about 5:00, Summer Nights Thursday night starting at about 5:00, we’ll be posted on various street corners there,” Burdick said.
Time to gather 3,000 signatures is running out. The deadline to place the referred ordinance question on the November ballot is this Friday.