In his final budget address, Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether issued a plan reflecting trends of decreased sales tax receipts brought on by a weak ag economy coupled with strong online sales.

The proposed amount of spending in 2018 would tally over $457 million which includes adding only a handful of full-time employees. In the face of declining revenue, Huether challenged department heads to be more efficient.

“We continued over the last three weeks (since releasing the Capital Improvement Program) looking for ways to cut spending in Sioux Falls. These additional expense reductions are not just happening in Sioux Falls. They’re happening in state government, in county government and town government all over our great state.”

Moreover, Huether encouraged the City Council to consider why they should provide funds to non-profit organizations going forward.

“We do need to scrutinize these outside agency requests. It’s probably doing good stuff for our community. Our heart, our head, our gut take us that way time and time again. However, if it’s not a true city government role, should the taxpayers be funding it?”

By the time 2017 is complete, city finance is projecting zero percent growth in sales taxes and only a one percent increase for 2018.

City leaders are also projecting that the population of Sioux Falls will grow by another five thousand people over the next year.


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