Sioux Falls Business Journal

Sioux Falls Federal Credit Union plans to add a fifth branch on the east side of Sioux Falls.

It will be on South Highline Avenue off of Arrowhead Parkway.

Sioux Falls Federal purchased the acre of land in late 2007.

Kevin Kavanaugh, vice president of marketing for Sioux Falls Federal Credit Union, said the credit union doesn’t have a start date for building but plans to open the branch sometime next year.

He said it will have a nontraditional design and employ about a half dozen people.

The unemployment rate for the Sioux Falls metropolitan statistical area was 2.5 percent in May. That mark is identical to the rate in May 2007 but an increase from 2.3 percent in April.

The latest South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin shows that the Sioux Falls MSA had a labor force of 129,560 people in May, with 3,210 unemployed. The Rapid City MSA had an employment rate of 2.8 percent.

Micropolitan rates were 2.4 percent for Aberdeen, 2.3 percent for Brookings, 2.5 percent for Huron, 2.5 percent for Mitchell, 2.3 percent for Pierre, 2.8 percent for Spearfish, 2.7 percent for Vermillion, 2.8 percent for Watertown and 2.7 percent for Yankton.

A new South Dakota law that goes into effect July 1 will provide tax incentives for wind energy facilities and transmission lines.

“South Dakota is committed to its role as a leader in the energy industry,” Gov. Mike Rounds said. “By making our business climate friendlier for those in the wind industry, we are optimistic that we’ll see continued growth in this area.”

The legislation offers an incentive for the building of transmission lines and infrastructure.

The new law has a two-part alternate tax: a nameplate capacity tax and a gross receipts tax. The nameplate tax is $3 multiplied by the nameplate capacity of the total wind farm, in kilowatts. The gross receipts tax is 2 percent of the wind farm’s actual production of electricity multiplied by an established rate of 4.75 cents per kilowatt hour.

All of the nameplate tax and 20 percent of the gross receipts tax go to local governments and don’t count against property tax counts. Each local government gets the same percentage of the tax as it would receive if the revenue were agricultural property tax. The remaining 80 percent of the gross receipts tax goes to the property tax reduction fund.

The maximum amount of the total rebate is 50 percent of the cost for transmission lines and a collector system for a wind farm or the cost for transmission lines to a new coal-fired power plant. The rebate lasts up to 10 years and can’t be more than 90 percent of gross receipts taxes for the first five years and 50 percent for the next five years.

“We’re very excited about the energy solutions that this will create,” secretary Richard Benda of the department of tourism and state development said. “And we pledge to continue to further expand our state’s wind energy economy.”

Gov. Mike Rounds appointed Hunter Roberts, interim state energy director, to the post of energy policy director.

The change takes effect immediately.

“Hunter has the skills and ability to be a tremendous asset in advancing the goals of our energy agenda,” Rounds said. “In South Dakota, we will continue to promote the responsible development of fossil fuels, aggressively pursue renewable energy development and encourage energy conservation.”

Roberts is a graduate of the University of South Dakota and is an attorney.

The Pierre native will serve within the Department of Tourism and State Development as a liaison to energy groups on behalf of the governor. He will coordinate state resources and recommend state actions and policies related to energy production, consumption and development.