Mayor Erickson Releases Proposed 2027 Budget

Mayor Erickson Releases Proposed 2027 Budget

Published on July 30, 2026

Mayor Christine Erickson presented the proposed 2027 Budget and 2027-2031 Capital Program today at a special meeting of the Sioux Falls City Council, the first budget of her administration. The proposed 2027 budget totals $794 million, and the five-year capital program totals nearly $1.1 billion. Compared to 2026, the total budget carries a below-inflation increase of 2.4%.

The proposed budget comes 13 days after Erickson took the oath of office on July 17 and reflects the priorities of continued investment in public safety, infrastructure and quality of life while maintaining the city's fiscal position. Nearly two-thirds of the annual service budget supports public safety and infrastructure across the city, and more than three-fourths of the capital program supports streets and utility infrastructure investments.

"Every mayor inherits their first budget, and I am grateful to be inheriting this one from a team that has spent years practicing fiscal discipline and careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars," Erickson said. "There are no major surprises in this budget, and that is a good thing. It stays focused on the big three: public safety, infrastructure and maintaining the quality of life that keeps people proud to call Sioux Falls home."

The city's annual budget is divided into three categories of expenses: operating, capital and internal service. Operating expenses cover the daily costs of operating city services. Capital expenses fund large investments focusing on replacement, rehabilitation and expansion of infrastructure and equipment. Internal service expenses invest in employee benefits and insurance, building maintenance, fleet maintenance and citywide technology.

Operating expenses come from the general fund, and about 80% of that fund is supported by sales and property tax revenue. The general fund is the only portion of the city's budget funded by property taxes, and it supports daily operations, like police, fire, metro communications, pothole patching, snow removal, building permits and inspections, parks, libraries, mosquito control and more. In 2027, more than half, or $146 million, of the general fund will go toward police, fire, highways and streets.

Sales and property taxes and utility customer fees generate most of the city's revenue. Long-term, the city is facing a permanent reduction in property tax revenue, estimated to be at least $25 million over the next 10 years. To account for this loss, the city needs to reduce on-going operating expenses by at least $12 million over four years starting with the 2026 budget.

The 2027 budget maintains the $5 million in budget reductions made in 2026, with the next round of adjustments to be developed for the 2028 budget. Outside of public safety, the 2027 budget requests three new positions: a signal technician, reallocation of a vacated position within the Mayor's Office for community priorities, and a resource recovery supervisor at the Sioux Falls Regional Landfill, which is funded through landfill operations and not tax dollars.

"Fiscal discipline and responsibility are a tradition in Sioux Falls, and it is one I intend to build on, because we know revenue pressures are not going away in the years ahead," Erickson said. "My top priority over the next six weeks is working with the council and community to pass this budget. The annual budget process is the most important work a mayor, an administration and a city council do together."

2027 Budget Highlights

Public Safety

The proposed 2027 budget includes $122 million across the Sioux Falls Police Department, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue and Metro Communications. Of the 11 new full-time positions requested for next year, eight support public safety, including six police officers, one animal control officer and one Metro Communications operator. The budget also funds new police vehicles, radios, gear, fire apparatus and a fire truck for Fire Station 13, which is under construction in northwest Sioux Falls and scheduled to open in 2027. Within the proposed capital program, design work is scheduled in 2029 for a facility to co-locate Fire Station 14 and a police substation in southeast Sioux Falls to serve the rapidly growing area.

Infrastructure

The capital budget plans $84 million for highways and streets in 2027. Within the five-year capital program, highways and streets remain the largest portion with $440 million planned across the program. As in previous years, the program continues alignment with the South Dakota Department of Transportation's investments in the region, including the Minnesota Avenue and Interstate 229 interchange and the remaining segments of South Veterans Parkway. Several city-led street investments are also planned across the program:

• 41st Street and Louise Avenue intersection reconstruction
• Reconstruction of Benson Road from I-29 to Westport Avenue
• Reconstruction of Minnehaha County Highway 130, north of Foundation Park
• Reconstruction of Phillips Avenue from Eighth to 10th Streets and River Road
• Rehabilitation of approximately 700 blocks per year through street maintenance programs

The proposed budget also invests in water and wastewater infrastructure, including continued work on sanitary sewer basins that will open land for housing and development on the southeast and west sides of the city, as well as continued construction of the third connection to the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System to strengthen our drinking water supply for decades to come.

Quality of Life

The budget includes two investments identified as long-term community quality-of-life projects: $2.5 million per year for four years reserved for future public space within the Sanford District, and a one-time $4 million capital investment from the fund that supports the city's entertainment venues toward the Great Plains Zoo's aquarium project. The city's financial support of these projects helps support two transformational opportunities in Sioux Falls that will have significant entertainment, recreational, cultural and educational impacts for years to come.

Siouxland Libraries is budgeted at $13 million, with a focus on kindergarten readiness and early childhood literacy. Planned investments across the budget and capital program include an interactive learning table, a pilot of an anytime library kiosk to extend access beyond branch locations and hours, and a smaller bookmobile van for neighborhood outreach. Parks and Recreation is budgeted at $46 million. In 2027, the city plans to build a new neighborhood park at Wild Meadows, add amenities at Whispering Woods and acquire land for a future school park site near West 26th Street. Along the Recreation Trail in 2027, the city will construct the new Cherry Creek segment from Family Park to Madison Avenue and reconstruct the southeastern spur that runs along Southeastern Avenue and the section that runs from Maple Street to the Sanford Sports Complex in northwest Sioux Falls.

The proposed 2027 Budget and 2027-2031 Capital Program can be viewed online at siouxfalls.gov/budget. City departments will present their individual budgets to the City Council throughout August, and the Council will consider the annual budget and capital program for approval at its meetings on September 1 and 8.

• Mayor's Office
• Media Release