Questions remain about the pared LibertyLand and funding ahead of a special election

RAPID CITY— Residents packed the Minneluzahan Senior Center, which hosted the LibertyLand TIF (Tax Increment Finance) forum on December 27, 2025. The original project planned for the northeast side of Rapid City on property owned by the Lien family has been significantly scaled down from 300 acres to 50 acres.

People began to question the Rapid City Council after they approved the TIF project. Eventually petitions were circulated to put the issue to a vote. Over five thousand signatures were gathered, more than twice the number required. A special election has been scheduled in Rapid City on January 20, for resident to vote to approve Tax Increment Finance District (TIFD) for the project.

Local business owner Nick Reid moderated the forum which featured Jay Davis, Tonchi Weaver, and Lisa Pustejovsky from No Free Rides which supports a “no” vote and Mark Merchen and John Way from Vote Yes Jan 20, which supports a “yes” vote.

The meeting discussed the proposed $125 million dollar LibertyLand TIF and the project which Merchen expected could generate $9.1 million in tax revenue by the 20th year. The project includes $17 million for infrastructure, $47 million for discretionary spending, and $54 million for interest reimbursement. Critics raised concerns about the $47 million discretionary fund, potential environmental impacts, and the risk of the project failing. Supporters emphasized the project’s potential to boost local economy, create jobs, and improve public infrastructure. The city’s role as a partner and the developer’s responsibility for repayment were also highlighted.

Way from the Vote Yes Jan 20 committee said through his extensive banking experience, working for a city task force, and financing projects, there are many misunderstandings about tax increment finance and welcomed the opportunity to explain it.

Mark Merchen founder of M3 Strategies and supporter of LibertyLand explained that a tax increment is the difference between the amount of property tax revenue generated before a TIF district is created and the amount of property tax revenue generated after.

Davis from No Free Rides said that voters are not going to be voting on the sports complex which the Team Rapid City television advertising suggests. The sports complex was already approved in a separate action. “From an environmental standpoint, I would encourage you to go out and look at the site where LibertyLand is proposed. We see that you’re in or adjacent to the floodplain at Box Elder Creek. That is a high water table. There are also environmental concerns about drastically increasing demand for electricity and water and how that will pinch the rest of the community.”

Merchen said the extent that the project benefits the sports complex is that the project pays for the road that would have to be funded separately by the capital improvement plan or something else in order to create a road to the sports complex without the destination.

Weaver pushed back against false accusations that people against the LibertyLand project are against growth. “We have been assigned this motive, and it just isn’t true. This tif is so huge and unprecedented. It does contain the majority of it for interest and discretionary spending, and there are so many unknowns. You heard our opponent say that these are projections. That is speculation.” She said that because the city is a silent partner with a private entity, certain details can be kept from citizens. “We have no right to know the information that they know.”

Merchen explained that some of the property is considered to be a wetland. “In order to go and change that wetland, you have to do a property exchange. You say it is no longer a wetland.”

An audience member asked what the return on investment is. Way said they were unable to calculate that. The moderator began to explain. “We need to look at the whole broad picture,” said Reid. “This is not just about the taxes that we’re going to get from the particular property being built up. Because this is going to generate people and people buy things.”

Way added that the project will bring jobs. “One thing we haven’t talked about is jobs. There’s new jobs in this whole development. There will be construction jobs and full-time jobs. How do you figure that into the calculation return on investment? I don’t know.”

“I would say those jobs, hopefully are for our kids,’’ said Merchen. “How many of you would like to have your kids move back here and bring the grandkids? I know I would.”

Davis noted that the unemployment rate in Rapid City is currently one of the lowest in the nation. “It’s close to zero. You can really say that everybody who is willing to work and capable of work has a job. Some of them have two jobs. What we probably need is jobs with better wages.” There was resounding applause.

Merchen dispelled any rumors of an amusement park. ‘It’s not an amusement park. It’s a destination district, and it is for recreational and that type of use. The developer is going to build the land so that others can come in and put in a hotel, a restaurant, and create a downtown that is themed LibertyLand, here at the foothills with the shrine of democracy. This is going to be a patriotic themed community. So people will want to visit and stay and spend money.”

There were a lot of questions about cost and return. Reid posited that a private investor wasn’t going to put up millions of dollars for a project they haven’t researched.

“We cannot compel them to show us their numbers,” said Weaver, “because this is a private entity.”

“The money is going to come from the TIF-generated increment,” Merchen said in closing, “the increase paid by the developer can be used for that purpose, that’s where they (the city) become the developer. The developer for that portion remains responsible for its maintenance. They will not be responsible for the improvements that go into the themed community or downtown.”

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

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