Residents Want to Refer New Madison Property Tax Road Fee
Democracy is afoot in Madison again! Last week, the Madison City Commission approved adding a dollar for every foot of property facing city roadways to local property taxes. Commissioners say the new...
View ArticleMore Deteriorating Bridges in South Dakota Than Minnesota
Maybe Governor Daugaard should recruit some bridge engineers from Minnesota. Governing compiles Federal Highway Administration bridge inspection data for 2012 and finds that South Dakota ties with...
View ArticleMadison Spending Less: Why Not Restore Those Cuts for Road Work?
From the local finance department, Gale Pifer reports that the City of Madison is spending less money this year than last: Despite increases in water, sewer and electric bills this year, the city of...
View ArticleMadison Makes Road Maintenance Fee More Unfair with $100 Cap
I get back to Madison, and things go from bad to worse. Let's not jump to conclusions.... The Madison City Commission meets Monday night to consider a revamped special maintenance fee to generate...
View ArticleMake Street Fee More Fair: Replace $100 Cap with First-50 Exemption
(In an alternate universe where I live in town and can win elections...) Mayor Lindsay (pounding gavel following raucous discussion of Crazy/Discovery Day): We turn now to New Business, Item 1,...
View ArticlePedestrian Deaths Up; Boost Safety with Better Design, More Robots, Fewer Phones
My friend Douglas Wiken reminds us how dangerous South Dakota's highways are for pedestrians. Nationwide, pedestrian deaths are increasing just a little: In 1975, more than 7,500 pedestrians were...
View ArticleSioux Falls Lessons for Billings: Sales Tax and Infrastructure?
Billings, Montana, wants to be better. It wants to be like Sioux Falls. Billings economic development boss Steve Arveschoug and other interested Billingsians visited our eastern Queen City last month...
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Boost South Dakota’s CNBC Business Rank: Invest in Schools, Roads, and Science
CNBC takes away South Dakota's #1 ranking for business, and KELO-AM's Greg Belfrage, who inclines Daugaard-ward more than I, says our drop from #1 to #11 may say "less about South Dakota than it does...
View ArticleWill South Dakota Show More Sense on Roads Than Congress?
Governor Dennis Daugaard deserves all the guff we can give him for reneging on his no-new-taxes promise to consider a gasoline-tax increase. Acknowledging that we don't spend enough on our roads and...
View ArticleDaugaardonomics Failing; Let’s Try Direct Investment in Schools, Roads, Parks
David Montgomery says Governor Dennis Daugaard proposed a "modest" 2.5% increase in the FY 2016 budget because of a slow state economy: The cautious increase was spurred by a lukewarm economy. The...
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