Possible new NDSU arena

[State_fan]

Re: Possible new NDSU arena

It seems like anytime the term 'tax increase' comes up in Sioux Falls to fund a new arena the voting majority fall back on their resistance to change with the old 'its good enough' complacent attitude that seems to haunt a lot of South Dakota. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of taxes. I won't go into any politics further than that, but sometimes a need arises and people need to realize it. I'm sure things will get taken care of sooner or later. Hopefully not too much later though.

So that much funding was generated by a 1/2 cent sales tax over the course of 20 years? Was that just a local city tax?

[Hammersmith]

Re: Possible new NDSU arena

It seems like anytime the term 'tax increase' comes up in Sioux Falls to fund a new arena the voting majority fall back on their resistance to change with the old 'its good enough' complacent attitude that seems to haunt a lot of South Dakota. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of taxes. I won't go into any politics further than that, but sometimes a need arises and people need to realize it. I'm sure things will get taken care of sooner or later. Hopefully not too much later though.

So that much funding was generated by a 1/2 cent sales tax over the course of 20 years? Was that just a local city tax?

Yep, just the city of Fargo. It generated almost $9.5M last year, a little over $6M this year through July, and will probably raise about $11.5M next year. The tax will probably generate about $150M-$170M over the entire span. I'm sure the Fargo Forum will do a story on it sometime next year as it gets close to expiring. There's a $12.50 cap on the tax(so purchases above $2500 are limited to that amount) and the tax would've barely passed even with the rules in place today. Back in 1988, 50% +1 was needed to pass a new tax. In 1999, that was raised to 60% +1. The Fargodome tax passed 60.8% to 39.2%. (I've been doing a lot of research lately to refute the Fargo people with the same type of attitude you describe - sorry.)

[Walrus]

Re: Possible new NDSU arena

Mike McFeely's blog - http://www.areavoices.com/mcfeely/


Not to get caught up in the four straight sellouts for North Dakota State football team, but is it time to look into how to expand seating in the dome for football games? Let's face it, as long as Joe Chapman is president of NDSU, he is going to push Bison athletics to be bigger, like it or not. The obvious end for the Bison football program would be Division I-A (or $#*&^! Football Bowl Subdivision). If the Bison were to seek membership in, say, the Western Athletic Conference, they'd probably need 25,000 seats to make things more palatable to the conference and to accomodate the expected larger crowds. (read more)