In Development: 2025 City Budget
Planning for the 2025 budget is underway. Each year this process kicks off with a presentation from the Mayor, followed by department presentations. This is your chance to get a sense for how the City plans to allocate resources and ensure we meet the needs of our growing and evolving community.
The Mayor will present the proposed budget to the City Council in a special meeting on Thursday, July 25, at 3 p.m. The budget will then be reviewed at the following meetings:
- Wednesday, August 7, at 3 p.m.: Finance Overview; Aquatics and Recreation Bond, Human Resource Overview.
- Tuesday, August 13, at 3 p.m.: Public Works, Entertainment Tax, Centralized Facilities, Public Parking, Innovation & Technology, Finance.
- Tuesday, August 20, 3 p.m.: City Attorney’s Office, Communications, Police, Fire, Health, Planning & Development Services, Housing, Transit.
- Tuesday, August 27, at 5 p.m.: Joint Meeting with Minnehaha County to review the budgets for Siouxland Libraries, Museums, and Metro Communications.
All are open to the public held at Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West Tenth Street. Attend in-person or stream live online. Review presentation recordings or access materials in the archive.
2025 Recommended Budget
A balanced approach to strategic growth.
Grounded in the 1SF framework, the Mayor’s recommended 2025 budget is $781 million. This budget balances strategic growth, protecting what we’ve built, maintaining essential services, and ensuring the City of Sioux Falls continues to be a place people want to live, work, play, and visit.
Creating our annual budget starts by estimating the revenue we’ll generate from taxes, fees, grants, and other sources. Next, we anticipate financial needs to achieve city goals, meet infrastructure needs, and enhance our community. Finally, city officials (the Mayor, City Council, Finance, and department leaders) collaborate to develop and approve the budget.
The City was recently recognized by Wallet Hub as the ninth “best-run city in America,” which uses data to compare how the largest cities in the country are using their budget most effectively.
This year's budget prioritizes maintaining the essential services residents rely on every day, while laying the groundwork for transformational initiatives. While we haven't proposed an overall budget increase, this approach ensures we can continue to effectively serve our growing community.
- Public Safety & Infrastructure: As usual, more than 70 percent of our operating and capital expenses are invested in public safety and infrastructure, including:
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- More than 680 blocks of neighborhood street reconstruction.
- Safer, more efficient traffic in areas like Arrowhead Parkway.
- The addition of seven new police officers.
- Maintaining Essential Services: We are budgeting for 28 full-time employees, a proposed $2.8-million investment including:
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- One team member to support housing initiatives.
- Ten team members to operationalize our investments at Jacobson Plaza and indoor recreation.
- A new librarian to support the Oak View branch.
- Transformational Projects: As a community, we know Sioux Falls’ wants and needs more public indoor rec space. This budget helps move us toward that vision in a few ways:
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- Aquisition of land near 10th Street and Cliff Avenue to plan for a larger, more modern Convention Center.
- Reimagine the existing convention center into flexible public indoor recreation space.
- Budgeting for a future aquatics and recreation needs.
About the Budget
The City budget is comprised of an annual budget and a 5-year Capital Program.
The first step in creating a budget and ensuring a thriving community starts with a vision and is achieved through balanced and responsible budgeting. The second step is to understand the financial needs for not only today but looking ahead to achieve City goals. The annual budget and capital program balances maintaining services while building new critical investments that shape our City.
The annual City budget outlines projected City revenue, as well as planned expenses.
Creating our annual budget starts by estimating the revenue we’ll generate from taxes, fees, grants, and other sources. Next, we anticipate financial needs to achieve city goals, meet infrastructure needs, and enhance our community. Finally, city officials (the Mayor, City Council, Finance, and department leaders) collaborate to develop and approve the budget.
We budget for people, essential services, major projects, and equipment.
Our budget defines priorities for various city departments, programs, and initiatives. These priorities cover a variety of expenses, including:
- Operating: Essential services like firefighters and police officers or snow removal are budgeted through the General Fund.
- Capital: From land for a future fire station to new street sweepers, our five-year capital plan cares for existing assets and plans for new ones.