SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO.com) — Sioux Falls has decided what to do with a nearly $8 million windfall.
The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance using money from better-than-expected sales tax revenue to pay for a new fire station and road improvements, as well as other projects.
In total, $7.825 million was available for the city thanks to a good year for sales taxes in 2019.
The biggest item is a new fire station in the southeast part of town, which was originally part of a larger bond effort to build a training facility for city law enforcement. Footing the station’s $3.3 million price tag in cash allows it to be built sooner.
City Finance Director Shawn Pritchett said response times in the area are about a minute and a half longer than the average for the city as a whole.
Councilor Curt Soehl, a former captain in the Sioux Falls Fire Department, pointed out that the new station will help homeowners in the area pay lower insurance premiums because of the added safety a nearby station provides.
$1.7 million more would go toward repairing highways and streets, most of which will go toward resurfacing a stretch of 41st Street from Western Avenue to Minnesota Avenue.
Another $800,000 will be set aside to help pay for a new chairlift at Great Bear Ski Valley, and $300,000 will go toward structural improvements at Terrace Park.
The remaining $1.7 million will be placed in a reserve fund, which Pritchett recommended to allow the city to adapt to uncertainties in the market. He cited the recent stock market downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak as an example of how economic trends can change unpredictably.
Councilor Greg Neitzert supported the ordinance, but cautioned that the city shouldn’t allow the reserve fund to grow too much over the next several years.
Soehl countered that too much tax revenue would be a good problem to have.
