Council Working Session

MINUTES Council Working Session Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 3:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Present: David Barranco, Sarah Cole, Alex Jensen, Rich Merkouris, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl Absent: Greg Neitzert, Pat Starr Council Chair Curt Soehl called the Working Session to order at 3:00 p.m. 2. Discussion Topic(s) A. 2023 Legislative Priorities Jim David, Chief of Legislation and Policy, provided opening statements by saying that last year, the Council provided 15 legislative priorities for the 2022 Legislative Session. These items are illustrated on page 2 of the attached PowerPoint presentation. David stated the red font that is overstruck illustrates successfully approved this year or outdated. David reviewed the items and discussed the House Bills that supported these items. The following five items are new recommendations for discussion and consideration by the City Council: 1. Support for legislation increasing the bid limits for supplies and services ($25k to $50K) & professional services ($50K to $100K); 2. Support for legislation to allow for remote online notarization; 3. Opposition to any legislation that would reduce or repeal any municipal or county tax; 4. Urging a legislative solution to the stalled $200 million infrastructure funding program that is intended for building critical workforce housing in South Dakota; and, 5. Support legislation to protect our citizens from criminals who perpetuate violence and harm by strengthening our criminal justice system through fiscally responsible and data driven decision making. David reviewed Items 1 and 3, Council Member Alex Jensen reviewed Item 4 and Council Member Rich Merkouris reviewed Item 5. Item 2 was determined to be better decided on by the Municipal League vs. any recommendations by the City Council. After conversation and feedback, the following items were determined to be the items that will be submitted to the Legislature for consideration in this order of priority: 1. Support legislation to protect our citizens from criminals who perpetuate violence and harm by strengthening our criminal justice system through fiscally  responsible and data driven decision making. 2. Urging a legislative solution to the stalled $200 million infrastructure funding program that is intended for building critical workforce housing in South Dakota; and 3. Opposition to any legislation that would reduce or repeal any municipal or county tax. Discussion was held regarding the terminology for legislation on repealing any municipal or county tax (#3) with an emphasis on using the term local control for any decisions regarding food tax. David provided an update regarding the next steps for bringing the items forward. Right now, we are working on ideas for a draft with the Resolution being presented to the City Council at the meeting on Tuesday, December 20, 2022. Proposed additions or other amendments can be made at that time. Discussion was held regarding the Statement of Policy endorsement that is listed in the resolution. As the Council is going to show support for the Statement of Policy (which covers a lot of similar items) the consensus is to limit the submission to three items at this time. 3. Public Comment There was none. 4. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. Tamara Jorgensen, Assistant City Clerk