Defending Richland and Wilkin counties May 3, 2018

Richland-Wilkin Joint Powers Authority
Original Publication Date: May 3, 2018
Wahpeton Daily News
Republished with permission from:
Trana Rogne, Richland County

In 2013, the North Dakota Senate passed an amendment to a spending bill to fund Fargo’s flood protection. The amendment directed that any state tax dollars going to Fargo needed to be spent on internal levees and dikes, and not on the federal diversion project, until that project was fully funded by Congress. This was a bipartisan common sense approach to make sure state tax dollars were wisely spent to protect Fargo.

The very next day Fargo’s leaders were able to bring that amendment back to the senate floor and rescind it, striping off all restrictions on Fargo’ s spending ability. Mac Schneider, then a Grand Forks state senator, recently claimed credit, saying he “partnered” with Fargo’s representatives to “flip” that 2013 vote. At the time of the Schneider “flip,” Fargo’s Diversion spending was only 18.5 million (view total on Page 5).

Since then Fargo leaders have spent approximately 425 million state and local tax dollars (read more…) on the diversion – while neglecting to fund or complete Fargo’s internal levees and dikes. There has been no federal costs share. The only non-state/ local funds contributed have been 25 million that came not from Congress, but from Army Corps internal funds. Fargo’s leaders wrote the Army Corps a check last year for twice that amount. Congress has refused year after year to fund the FM Diversion and will likely never fund it. Projects with cost/benefit ratios as terrible as the FM Diversion never get federal funding.

After Mac Schneider stripped away that spending restriction, Fargo leaders funneled 28 million state and local tax dollars to the private Oxbow Golf Course. They claimed this money was compensation for modifications to the course to prepare for a dam that has since been found unlawful. In reality, it was a 28 million tax dollar bribe (view payments) to a private business which, all told land and buildings, was officially assessed to have a true and correct value of only 1.08 million dollars (read more…). This was just the golf course subsidy. When you add in residential buyouts and ring dike construction, Fargo’s Oxbow spending now exceeds 130 million.

Mac Schneider’s actions were no doubt a family effort to support Diversion promoter Rocky Schneider. Cass County residents remember Rocky as the driving force behind the Diversion property tax assessment (read more…) election. Every private property in Fargo and West Fargo is now subject to a huge Diversion tax assessment even though property owners voted to reject that proposal by a large majority. Their vote was meaningless and the election a sham because Rocky Schneider helped engineer a rigged vote system (read more…) where the Cass and Fargo Commissions (Diversion Authority) were given power to override the clear majority, even though private property owners are responsible for 100% of the assessment.

Thanks to the Schneiders, Fargo’s Diversion leaders were allowed to burn through one-half a billion state and local tax dollars on an unlawful project, Fargo and West Fargo property owners are on the hook for the bill, Fargo’s levees have not been finished, there is no end of spending in sight, and no federal money in sight. These are “dark moments” indeed. Richland County folks should carefully weigh whether they want a “diversion” Schneider in Congress.

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