City Budget

Mayor TenHaken presented the proposed 2026 Budget to City Council on Thursday, July 24.

The budget will now be reviewed at the following meetings:

• Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 3 p.m.: City Financial and Human Resources Overview, General Government Departments Overview.
• Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 3 p.m.: Police, Fire, Metro Communications, Parks & Recreation, Health, and Entertainment Tax.
• Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 3 p.m.: Centralized Facilities, Public Parking, Libraries, Planning & Development Services, Housing, Transit, and Public Works.
• Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m.: Joint Meeting with Minnehaha County to approve the joint budgets for Siouxland Libraries, Siouxland Museum, and Metro Communications.

The public hearing and first reading of the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 6 p.m.

All presentations are open to the public and held at Carnegie Town Hall, 235 W. Tenth St. Attend in-person or stream live online. Review presentation recordings or access materials in the archive.

The proposed 2026 Budget focuses on foundational investments.

Just like families have limited income so does the City. We must budget for big purchases, the City plans ahead for investments that strengthen our financial foundation and reduce long-term costs. We start by estimating revenue from taxes, fees, grants, and other sources. Then, we identify what our community needs to thrive. City officials work together to balance these priorities in the annual budget.

Here’s how the budget affects you.

• Impact on Property Taxes: Due to state legislation (SB 216) passed in early 2025, the City has to reduce spending by $8 to $10 million over the next three years. This affects the General Fund, which is funded by property taxes and pays for daily services like wages for public safety employees, street maintenance, snow removal, parks maintenance, and library operations. Find details in our press release on proposed budget recalibrations for the 2026 budget.

• Your Service Priorities: Sioux Falls residents have told us safety and security, street conditions, and traffic congestion are their top priorities. About 60% of residents say they live here for access to parks, open spaces, arts, culture and entertainment. These priorities help guide our budget decisions.

• How We Compare: The City of Sioux Falls maintains lower per-resident spending than most comparable cities while delivering essential services efficiently. Among comparable cities in our region, we have one of the lowest debt burdens per resident at $1,639 per person. This reflects our focus on smart investments that generate more revenue than they cost to maintain. WalletHub ranked us the 7th best-run city in the United States in 2025. Despite doubling in population since 1990, we have fewer employees per 10,000 residents than before. We consistently find ways to do more with less, delivering the same services with a smaller workforce relative to our population.

We remain committed to public safety.

Fire Station 13

We're building our 13th fire station in the Discovery District to serve the north side of Sioux Falls. The station will be operational by the end of 2026 with 15 new firefighters to maintain response times as our community grows.

Police Force Expansion

Six additional police officers will join our force, bringing our authorized strength to 308 officers. We recently welcomed our largest recruit class ever and remain committed to our recruitment efforts.

Public Safety Support

A new forensic specialist will join our police department to handle increased evidence collection needs, while two additional Metro Communications operators support growing emergency call volumes.

We're building the foundation for Sioux Falls' future.

Sewer Expansion

We're building necessary sewer infrastructure to open thousands of acres on the west side through Basin 15 and starting construction of a sewer basin on the southeast side in 2026. These investments support continued growth on the city's expanding edges and enable future development.

Major Street Projects

The new I-29 and 85th Street interchange will move forward alongside continued construction on Cliff Avenue and I-229, Arrowhead and Veterans Parkways intersection, and Minnesota Avenue reconstruction. Plus 700 blocks of road maintenance is planned to maintain existing roadways.

Recreation Investments

Construction will begin on the new outdoor aquatics experience at Kuehn Park using dedicated bond funding approved by City Council. We will continue the design of the indoor recreation center at Frank Olson to replace the aging pool and bring new energy to that neighborhood.

See where your tax dollars go.

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Learn how your City budget gets made.

We estimate how much revenue we’ll receive from taxes, fees, grants, and other sources. Then we allocate funds to meet community priorities. Each budget decision is evaluated for its long-term financial impact on the City and to ensure taxpayers receive maximum value for their investment. This ensures today’s investments don’t become tomorrow’s financial burden. The Mayor, City Council, Finance, and department leaders work together to create a balanced budget that serves residents well.

The City budget includes both annual operating expenses and a five-year capital program. This helps us keep current services while planning smart investments for the future. The budget is our planned roadmap for the year, adjusted as circumstances change.

The budget covers three main areas:

• Operating expenses keep core services running every day that taxpayers expect — fire and police protection, street maintenance and snow removal — along with parks, public health, and libraries.
• Capital expenses focus on maintaining existing infrastructure and strategic investments in buildings and equipment that provide long-term value. These projects are planned through our five-year capital program.
• Internal service expenses fund behind-the-scenes operations like employee benefits, insurance, City-wide fleet, building management, and technology.

We maintain public access to budgets for the past five years.

Approved budgets are official City records. Any reports older than five years are archived and available by request. Anyone can request a past report from the Finance Department.