Concerns continue to rise in Rapid City community over Vision Account ordinance’s first reading
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Community concerns continue to boil in Rapid City as an ordinance changing how the Vision Fund Account can be used is headed to a second reading in two weeks.
A decision made Monday by the Rapid City Council has started turning the cogs in what some people feel will be the beginning of the end for the city’s vision fund.
“We need to look back at the will of the voters that twice voted on this and approve this vision fund. This is kind of the last vestige of voter-controlled, citizen-controlled funds in Rapid City,” said Rapid City resident Walter Albasi.
One of the public’s concerns was a change in the procedural process for allocating the funds.
“The council would have the discretion to decide how the funds would be awarded for that round, whether it be through a citizen committee or other means,” explained Rapid City’s attorney Joel Landeen.
The decision to change the process was why one council member voted to pass the first reading of the ordinance Monday. That council member said this would help fast-track some projects.
“It’s very frustrating for the citizens to go through that long process and kind of give false hope to non-profits that you’re going to get, that it’s your turn to get $5 million. You know, every time we build a beautiful project, then you’ve got three more non-profits saying, ‘it’s now our turn’,” explained Rapid City Ward 3 council member Kevin Maher.
Yet for some people, like Albasi, the decision to make the citizen committee optional feels like a power grab by the city government.
“This is, you know, ‘we’re from the government, trust us to do the right thing,’ and that has not proven itself to be a valid concept to buy in over time,” said Albasi.
That is only the tip of the iceberg of concerns for some residents. The way the council could use those funds for certain economic and infrastructure projects because of the rewording of the ordinance is also on people’s minds.
“There’s other ways that we can fund them; we don’t have to raid the Vision Fund,” expressed Rapid City former council member Darla Drew.
Another council member is concerned that over the last couple of years, the city has dug itself into a hole by funding projects that have no significant return for the city, having to rely heavily on the general fund to cover costs.
“Finding a way to redo the Vision Fund where we can put O&M cost into it, which would be highly beneficial to the city and the council going forward,” explained Rapid City Ward 4 council member John Roberts.
But for Drew, she believes the city has other options to get money.
“One of the things we haven’t done is raise any of the fees for construction; for constructing, whether you’re constructing a house or a ten million dollar building, it’s $250. That’s not enough; we haven’t raised that fee in thirty years,” explained Drew.
The fee isn’t the only thing not changing at the city level. If passed, there are still things the re-worded ordinance won’t allow.
“The ordinance still prohibits that they not be used for operational expenses and things like that,” explained Landeen.
According to the city, up until 2003, all public input went through the city council. Then, in 2004, the city council amended the current ordinance to include citizen committees and take public input that way.
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