BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council approved a pilot scholarship program for local youth last week. The Jan. 11 vote was 5-2 with Councilors Leah Brink and Joey Collins dissenting.

City Manager Paul Briseno said the initial concept for the scholarship program was presented to the council in October 2021. The program is intended for Brookings County area youth. 

Approximately $100,000 a year for five years would fund the scholarships from Brookings Municipal Liquor Store reserves. Briseno said staff recommends committing $80,000 toward the South Dakota State University Foundation and $20,000 toward South Dakota technological colleges.

“The scholarships will target workforce needs of Brookings area businesses” with help from the Brookings Economic Development Corporation, Briseno said.

Funding will also be provided to students who do not select SDSU or cannot attend additional education beyond high school, Briseno said, adding the program will be assessed annually.

Public comments

Zeno Wicks questioned whether funds can be spent by a city council based on a resolution. He was sent a definition of a resolution from the South Dakota Legislative Research Council, which said it was for a “temporary character of purpose” to carry out administrative duties.

“Their comments to me were: that in order to have new funding spent, it should be by ordinance with a first and second reading,” Wicks said. “I can find nowhere that you are authorized by resolution to spend additional money; you have to do it by ordinance.”

Briseno said Wicks was correct as it pertains to funds from the general fund, but the money the council is talking about is coming from the enterprise fund.

“At the end of the day, the decision before council tonight is to authorize this program. We could always bring it back (as) an ordinance with two readings on the next budget amendment, but this would solidify the program to be implemented,” he said, adding the actual scholarships would not be committed until later.

“Because this is an enterprise fund, the legalities of it are slightly different,” Briseno said.

Wicks wanted written notice of the requirements of an enterprise fund.

“I’m not in favor or opposed to the idea. I’m just saying as a community, we should be able to have input on your spending,” Wicks said. “If I’m wrong, I’d like to be corrected.”

Chief Financial Officer Erick Rangel said the general fund is funded mainly by taxpayers’ money. 

“An enterprise fund, such as the liquor store, is considered to be a business, so there’s no taxpayer monies. It generates revenue from the sales,” Rangel said. “It’s subject to different budget rules.”

The resolution is to establish the scholarship program, Rangel said. When the council decides how it wants to distribute the money, it can be brought back by budget amendment.

City Attorney Steve Britzman agreed with Rangel’s summary and said the city has always been committed to complying with legislative audit requirements.

“We will take Zeno’s comments into careful consideration, and if it is determined that it would be in the public interest to budget a line item for this expenditure, the council can consider such a budget amendment,” Britzman said. “Historically, we have not been required to budget for enterprise or proprietary funds under the rules of South Dakota.”

Bradley Walker said he was opposed to the resolution, suggesting the city was overcharging for liquor if it was able to collect $500,000 in reserves. 

“Why weren’t these funds used previously for other things for the citizens of Brookings?” he asked, suggesting the city employees would like to have a raise. “That would be a way to increase area income.”

He complained the council was “very creative” in finding ways to “keep feeding SDSU money.”

Briseno straightened out some inaccuracies. First, excess dollars go in the general fund, “and those dollars go to things people love and enjoy in this community,” like the parks, fire department and police. He said employees are getting a 4% raise this year.

“The (liquor store) reserves have been put in place for quite some time with the intention of building a new liquor store. Staff recommended about a year ago not to proceed with building a new liquor store, just staying where we’re at,” Briseno said, adding staff is recommending those funds now be used for the scholarship fund.

Jeanette Gibbons had questions for the council.

“I am very pro-education,” she said, and she understands the dollars SDSU brings into the community through the students. “I do echo some of Bradley’s concerns about the ties between Brookings and SDSU.”

“My concerns actually go back to the previous scholarship plan that was offered last fall and the collaboration that took place between the city and SDSU to promote the vaccinations does not set well with me,” Gibbons said

Michael Garofalo is a sophomore at SDSU and part of the Student Association.

“I think that people are losing a lot of sight that this is something that’s not meant to help the school. It’s meant to help students and that should be our main focus,” Garafalo said. He supports the resolution because helping students get post-secondary education, whether at SDSU or a tech college, will make the community better.

Wicks came back to request that the resolution be re-worded to state the students who receive the scholarship are required to stay in Brookings County for five years.

Niemeyer said a stipulation like that has been considered, “but this is a pilot program that we are going to fine-tune as we get it going. … It is based for Brookings County students, it’s not just for Brookings School District. It’s more to help our community, help our children get a good start. It’s not necessarily just to benefit SDSU.”

Councilor comments

“So far, from the people that have contacted me, I’ve heard nothing but negative thoughts,” Collins said and asked if the council should have the criteria figured out before it’s passed, like if the students have to pay the money back.

Discussions over the past three months have included clawbacks, but since most of the scholarships will be in the $1,000 to $5,000 range, it would overburden the program, Briseno said.

“I’m a debt-first guy,” Collins said, then suggested using the money to pay down the city’s debt on the Performing Arts Center, or use it for outside agency funding. “Then I’m more open to spending some more money.”

Collins pointed out the resolution states the scholarship will target workforce needs. Brookings is a “manufacturing/technical kind of city,” he said, and wants to give more of the money to technical colleges.

Councilor Wayne Avery acknowledged there were issues in the pilot program, but clarified some by pointing out if the students are attending SDSU, they’re staying in the community.

“If they have a good experience here, we help some Brookings kids that might not be able to go (to college) otherwise,” Avery said. He said SDSU has many programs, such as nursing and pharmacy training, that are needed to fill jobs in Brookings. He acknowledged some students might graduate here but have a job opportunity elsewhere, but he didn’t see that as a bad thing.

“I just don’t see the downside to this,” Avery said of the scholarship program.

Brink asked how this program solves the problem of workforce.

“The question is should one public entity be helping to fund another public entity?” Brink said.

She asked how they would target students whose first choice would not be Brookings and keep them here. 

“As this is written right now, I don’t see any evidence of how that would happen,” Brink said. She also wanted to know how many individuals would be helped by the $80,000 invested with the SDSU Foundation and how much money each student would receive, and the same for the $20,000 earmarked for the technical schools.

Briseno reminded them it was a pilot program and if the council members don’t see the results in the first year, they can discontinue it.

Scholarships do require administration, Brink noted, and asked if the SDSU Foundation would absorb those administration fees.

Brink said none of her constituents have been in favor of it as they don’t think it’s an appropriate use of the city’s funds. She said she’d be more inclined to support the idea if there were matching funds and a way to show the impact. 

Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne said she would support it and thinks this scholarship program is another way to keep kids in Brookings past graduation.

Although money will go to SDSU and the technical schools, “the real benefit here is going to Brookings County families and youth,” Tilton Byrne said. For some students, getting a scholarship makes the difference between attending college or not. She sees helping local students as a win.

Most students attending SDSU aren’t just students, they are employees of various businesses here, she added.

“Some of our employers are fighting for a workforce; many of those jobs which could be held by college students,” Tilton Byrne said.

Councilor Nick Wendell said he’s gotten questions about how the program will be implemented. 

“I think this is a really good intentioned program with some real good potential positive outcomes,” Wendell said. He thinks it will create access to post-secondary education for area students and address workforce shortages.

“I also think that this money really, over time, could be seen as seed money that encourages the private sector or the Economic Development Corporation or other partners to match the city’s commitment to stretch the dollars and create more opportunity,” Wendell said. “Right now, it’s important that we get the gears turning.”

“I have heard real support from constituents as I’ve deepened our conversations,” Wendell said.

Niemeyer said he supported the program and added they may need more technical scholarships because there is a need for those trades in the community, including nurses for the hospital.

“I got an engineering wife, she said that we’re short engineers in this county,” Niemeyer said.

He invited the community’s businesses and manufacturing firms “to chime in on this and maybe help support this in the future.”

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.