Council approves $41M amendment to capital plan, $3M budget supplement

Trevor J. Mitchell, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read

The Sioux Falls City Council has approved a $3 million supplement to the city's 2022 budget that will help improve arterial streets and offset rising fuel costs, alongside a planned $41 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help with cost escalations at the city's water reclamation plant expansion.

Carnegie Town Hall stands against a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Sioux Falls.
Carnegie Town Hall stands against a partly cloudy sky on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Sioux Falls.

More: Sioux Falls advances $3 million supplement to city budget

The council voted 8-0 to approve the supplement at Tuesday's meeting, most of which is due to the city projecting $2 million more than expected in platting fees by the end of 2022, funds which will go to street improvements.

Another $400,000 will go to the city's Planning and Development department to be sent to Experience Sioux Falls, again the result of unexpected tax revenue from the city's hotel tax.

The city's Parks and Recreation department will see $500,000 intended to help with increased fuel costs, along with repairs for damage from this spring's storms. Sioux Falls Fire Rescue will also receive $100,000 to assist with the high cost of fuel.

The city will also mark $70,000 for the Sioux Falls Police Department to purchase a vehicle with federal grant dollars.

At the same meeting, the council approved a resolution amending the city's 2022-2026 capital program, with the street improvements and police vehicle among the items added.

More: City breaks ground on $215 million expansion of wastewater plant

It will also add $41,900,000 to the expansion of the city's water reclamation plant, which hit significant cost escalations as supply chain issues piled up prior to the project's May groundbreaking.

Cotter had said those issues would "essentially be offset by American Rescue Plan Act grant funding," which is indeed where the funds were approved to come from earlier this year.

The other amendments included $15,000 to the Parks and Recreation Department for medical equipment at the Great Plains Zoo, derived from other savings within the department, and $18,000 for a scissor lift for the Events Center Complex, purchased with savings from the cancellation of a scrubber.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Council approves $41M in ARPA funding for wastewater plant