Simplified: The Sioux Falls City Council on Tuesday discussed possible changes to Mayor Paul TenHaken's proposed 2026 budget – including back-pedaling some of the cuts to services like libraries and pools.
Why it matters
- Councilors on Tuesday took the first steps to approve the 2026 budget Tuesday night, including holding a public hearing – at which no one from the public opted to weigh in – and advancing the first reading of an ordinance essentially approving the means of financing the city for another year.
- Before that, though, the council held a separate meeting to get together and talk about what changes each councilor might want to make to the budget as a whole before bringing formal amendments next week.
- Many of the amendments discussed are relatively minor shifts, but some could have significant impacts for pools, neighborhood associations, a new fire station, the zoo and Sioux Falls Stadium (aka the Birdcage).
- Councilor Jennifer Sigette said she's likely bringing an amendment to cut plans to spend $11 million on improvements to the stadium.
"We’ve got zoo master plan, we’ve got all these other facilities that need attention," she said. "And I’m just not comfortable with this being in there knowing we don't have a master plan for that part of town."
Tell me more about the changes
Several councilors voiced support for Sigette's plans for the Birdcage, especially given the uncertainty over what'll happen to the sports and entertainment district if and when a future downtown convention center is approved.
Here's a run-down of city spending that could be impacted by budget amendments:
Fire Station 13
Another potential major change could be related to funding for a new fire station in the north side of town.
- Councilor Curt Soehl expressed hesitation about investing $5.5 million into a facility that the city will be leasing rather than owning.
"To me, that is not a good long-term investment," Soehl said.
Snow removal
Councilors also wanted to ensure that snow plowing wouldn't be impacted by a proposed $500,000 cut.
- Councilor Sarah Cole said she talked with the city's streets teams, who said the timing of when streets are plowed wouldn't be impacted by the cuts. Rather, the cuts would mean it'd take longer to pick up and move that plowed snow off the road.
- Councilors also agreed they could vote to supplement the snow removal budget during the year if needed to accommodate snow removal.
Pools
Another of TenHaken's proposed cuts that saw some push-back was related to closing pools early.
- Councilor David Barranco said he wants to see pools stay open longer, and he'll bring an amendment if needed.
Megan Raposa
Neighborhood associations
Councilor Miranda Basye said she plans to bring an amendment to increase funding for neighborhood associations – particularly as the city is seeing six to eight new associations per year in recent years.
- Basye suggested budgeting about $5,000 per neighborhood association for these groups to continue improvements like planting trees, painting crosswalks and more.
- Those changes could mean increasing the fund from $75,000 last year to as much as $140,000 for next year.
Sioux Falls Zoo and Aquarium
This isn't so much an adjustment to funding as it would be an adjustment of which fund from which the money is pulled. Councilor Rich Merkouris suggested moving the funding for the zoo from the general fund to being funded by the city's entertainment tax.
"At the end of the day, I do think the zoo is different from neighborhood parks," Merkouris said, noting that it might be more appropriate for the zoo to be "competing" for funds with the Pavilion and other entertainment entities rather than general fund dollars that support city operations.
Support for nonprofits
One of the biggest remaining questions in the 2026 budget is exactly how much money will be allocated to support local nonprofits.
- The city has already started to move forward with a change from subsidy agreements to a request for proposals process, but it's unclear exactly how much money each priority area will receive.
"The way that we show something is a priority is the level of funding that is going there for it," Merkouris said.
Megan Raposa
What happens next?
The budget is already on track for approval, and next week's meeting will be when councilors bring any of the amendments they're talking about before giving final approval later this month.
