6 minute read
SDMEA Hometown Power
CHRIS HILL
DIRECTOR OF MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC SERVICES
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Legislative session is over! The three electric utility providers in South Dakota worked together to pass some important legislation regarding electric vehicles this year.
Senate Bill 80 is an act to exempt the provision of electricity through electric vehicle charging stations from the definition of electric utility. This bill protects businesses from needing to become a utility if they have charging stations installed at their place of business. So, if your local business wants to install EV charging stations, they will have to purchase the power for those charging stations from the incumbent utility provider rather than generating their own power and becoming a utility and following the regulations of a utility provider.
This year the South Dakota Public Power group also hosted a late session dinner for our legislators. The SDMEA, Heartland Consumers Power District, and Missouri River Energy Services hosted a dinner on March 1. Unfortunately, the Senate Republicans also had a dinner that night, so we were down a few legislators, but quite a few of the Senate Republicans did make an effort to come visit with us before their dinner began. In total we were able to visit with 73 of the 105 legislators to discuss municipal electric utilities and the future of our electrical systems, including electric vehicle integration.
The South Dakota Municipal League district meetings are now over, and I am thrilled that I had a chance to visit with many of you during the meetings. The district meetings are a great recap of bills that affected the SDML during legislative session and a great chance to network with other municipal employees.
The SDMEA Conference is April 5 and 6, so depending on when you read this, the conference might still be going on. Once again, I want to encourage our members to attend any event that we host. It is key to be able to understand issues that may arise in your community and helps us to keep the conversations going.
Upcoming events include our annual SDMEA Golf Tournament which we are hoping to host in early June. This one-day event helps promote our association and brings us all together for a fun event. This year we are also hoping to add another event in the fall – possibly a trap shooting event. Information on that will be coming in the next couple of months as well!
We have lots of great things that are taking place within our association. The involvement of our members and opportunities for our members to work together at events is critical for the development of our association and can help you to make your HOMETOWN great! ■
Sioux Falls, 27 Counties Receive SDDOT Bridge Improvement Grants
The South Dakota Transportation Commission awarded 39 preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement Bridge Improvement Grants (BIG) totaling approximately $23 million at their recent commission meeting held in Pierre.
The City of Sioux Falls was the only municipality to submit applications this cycle, and both of those projects were selected as recipients. Another 50 applications were submitted by 27 counties. Fifty-two applications totaling $42.9 million in total project costs were received by the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT).
In addition to the City of Sioux Falls, grant recipients include the counties of Aurora (2), Beadle (3), Brookings (2), Clark (1), Corson (1), Day (3), Deuel (1), Grant (1), Gregory (1), Haakon (1), Hanson (1), Hughes (1), Kingsbury (1), Lake (1), Lawrence (1), Lincoln (1), McCook (1), Minnehaha (1), Pennington (6), Sanborn (1), Tripp (2), Union (3), and Yankton (1).
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SIOUX FALLS HRGREEN.COM “The BIG program continues to be very popular for the necessary preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement of local government structures,” said Joel Jundt, Secretary of Transportation. “The DOT commends the Transportation Commission for their continued commitment to provide state funding for this vital local government program. The goal is to enhance the overall condition of these critical assets that South Dakotans are dependent upon each and every day. These structures provide the link that drives the interconnectedness of our state’s overall transportation system; while enhancing statewide economic development overall.”
The Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) program was created by the 2015 legislative session in Senate Bill 1 (SB 1). Cities are not required to have a transportation plan, and they do not have statutory authority to establish a wheel tax.
SB 1 dedicated $7 million per year for the BIG funds. This money comes from the license plate fees and from noncommercial vehicle fees. In addition, SDDOT annually sets aside $8 million per year of state gas tax funds, for a total of $15 million available for the BIG grants. This year, the Transportation Commission awarded approximately $1.5 million in preliminary engineering (PE) grants, increased the available funding by $7.5 million, reallocated approximately $2.25 million from closed projects for a total allocation of $24.75 million.
The $24.75 million total represents the amount allocated within this grant cycle, which began last fall with preliminary engineering (PE) grants. To date, the BIG program has awarded $101.2 million in grants to local governments including the allocations made this year.
Local governments are required to pay a minimum of 20 percent matching funds; and have three years to expend the grant award.
Applications for the next round of the BIG program are due Aug. 1, 2022, for the Preliminary Engineering (PE) category.
For more information regarding the BIG program, contact Doug Kinniburgh at 605-773-4284 or visit dot. sd.gov. ■
SD Governmental Finance Officers’ School
Preliminary Agenda
10:30 a.m.
-12:30 p.m. Jeff Christensen, Banyon Data System, Inc. Noon – 4:00 p.m. 12:45 p.m. Gary Harrington 1:00 – 1:15 p.m. 1:15 – 1:30 p.m. Yvonne Taylor, SDML Executive Director 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Miguel Penaranda, Chief Information Security Officer, State of South Dakota 2:30 – 2:45 p.m. 2:45 – 4:30 p.m. Rod Fortin, Director of Local Government Assistance, SD Department of Legislative Audit 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
7:15 – 8:00 a.m. 8:15 – 9:45 a.m. Amy Dee Speaker 9:45 – 10:00 a.m. 10:00 – 10:55 a.m. Mike Harrison, Code
Enforcement Officer, City of Huron Wendy Semmler,
Director, SD Department of Revenue, Property
Tax Division Finance Officers Claire Baartman,
Dell Rapids, and Christina Smith, Brandon 11:00 – 11:55 a.m. Finance Officers Claire Baartman,
Dell Rapids, and Christina Smith, Brandon Jon Becker, Aeronautics Engineer, SDDOT Cody Papke – Accounting Manager, Sioux Falls 12:00 – 12:55 p.m. 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Amy Dee Speaker 2:30 – 2:45 p.m. 2:45 – 3:40 p.m. Mike Harrison, Code
Enforcement Officer, City of Huron Wendy Semmler, Director,
SD Department of Revenue, Property Tax Division Finance Officers Claire Baartman,
Dell Rapids, and Christina Smith, Brandon 3:45 – 4:40 p.m. Finance Officers Claire Baartman,
Dell Rapids, and Christina Smith, Brandon Jon Becker, Aeronautics Engineer, SDDOT Cody Papke – Accounting Manager, Sioux Falls
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
7:30 – 8:15 a.m. 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. 10:00 – 10:15 a.m. 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Lorraine Polak, SDHA Executive Director
