The Madison Daily Leader reported on its print front page Tuesday that Madison's sales tax receipts increased 5% in Fiscal Year 2011. That's improvement over the last four years of mostly stagnant sales tax revenues in Madison. Expect Lake Area Improvement Corporation leaders to try taking credit for this boost as they ask taxpayers for another $270,000 ($30K from Lake County, $240K from Madison) to support their failed economic development policies.
(Expect me to try taking credit for this sales boost as well. I launched my new website this year, which surely brought more visibility to Madison and the economic opportunities here. I can't offer details, since that's proprietary information, but I can assure you that my blogging has the potential to create 500 jobs. Therefore, I will request a taxpayer subsidy from the city of Madison of $50,000.)
Expect LAIC leaders not to mention this fact: statewide, FY 2011 sales tax revenues increased 9%. Once again, Madison economically underperforms the South Dakota average. Why is that?
If Madison's sales tax revenues have grown by only a little more than half the state average, other towns must have experienced growth in excess of the state average. I'd like to know which towns did that!
Ask and ye shall receive: this report offers the numbers on municipal tax collections for every town in South Dakota. Some big FY2011 jumpers: Lennox (51%), Buffalo (65%) Big Stone City (68%), and Rosholt (131%). Biggest jump among the biggest towns: Mitchell (8.7%).
Just took a look Wentworth (up 15%), Ramona (up 50%), and Madison (larger per centage increase than Brookings and Sioux Falls). Given that LAIC is Lake County wide and your thinking on what constitutes LAIC success, maybe they are doing something right.
Joseph G Thompson
Sure. And maybe I am doing something right!
The sun just came out, too. Did I cause that? Did the LAIC? I need to see a causal link.