Growth Is Good for Taxpayers, Right?

KELO's commentator emeritus Steve Hemmingsen poses an interesting question on his blog. He offers some gentle grousing about the Minnehaha County Commission's decision to raise property taxes while giving its employees a 4% raise and upping the county's share of employee health insurance to 70% at a time when, according to Hemmingsen, most private sector employees in South Dakota are struggling to win any sort of raise, not to mention hang onto their health plans.

Hemmingsen's really good question: When does all the "phenominal [sic] growth in Minnehaha County" start paying for itself? Indeed, what an interesting observation: more population, more business, more tax base, yet city and county residents are hit with tax and fee increases all the time. Who's reaping the benefits of all that growth?