Simplified: The Sioux Falls City Council on Tuesday unanimously advanced a proposal to spend $956,000 to buy new police radios, but a couple of councilors questioned where this extra cash was during the belt-tightening budget season.
Why it matters
- Police Chief Jon Thum said the 100 new radios in the proposed budget supplement would "greatly improve" police officers' ability to communicate and help address some "dead zones" the current radios encounter. It's also part of an ongoing process to update police radios, and 152 of these radio kits have already been purchased.
- Thum also said by buying the rest of the new radios now instead of waiting, the city can take advantage of a significant discount that'll save an estimated $300,000 in the future.
- Thum worked with City Finance Director Shawn Pritchett to find the money – which will come from savings the city had by taking a little longer than planned to pass the aquatics bond earlier this year.
- But City Councilor Curt Soehl questioned the timing of the ask and why this purchase wasn't included in either the existing 2025 budget or the recently-approved 2026 budget.
"This is why people think that cities and counties and states kind of cook the books a little bit to get what they want," Soehl said. "I intend to support it, but I scratch my head how we can have a million dollars extra two months after we just passed a budget (including several cuts across city departments)."
Tell me more
Councilor Miranda Basye asked if the council would get a chance to look at other potential uses for that money.
"Do we have a chance to reallocate those savings to these other areas that we had to have tough conversations about?" she asked, referring to budget cuts for 2026 as part of what Mayor Paul TenHaken called a "recalibration."
Pritchett clarified that the budget "recalibration" applied to the general fund. The additional nearly $1 million for the police radios would come from the Sales/Use Tax fund, which is related to capital projects and expenditures.
In ‘difficult’ city budget year, what stays and what goes?
Mayor Paul TenHaken said it was the “most difficult” budget process he’s seen in nearly eight years as mayor. Here’s a closer look at the numbers.
Megan Raposa
What happens next?
The council is expected to take take final action on the budget supplement request during the Dec. 2 meeting.
