Special City Council Meeting July 20, 2026: 2027 Mayor's Budget Presentation
Special City Council Meeting – July 20, 2026: 2027 Mayor’s Budget Presentation
A special meeting of the Rapid City Common Council was held on Monday, July 20, 2026, to receive the proposed 2027 city budget from Mayor Solomon. The mayor presented a $312,332,582 overall budget (general fund and enterprise funds), a 7.4% decrease from the 2026 budget. He highlighted ten key areas, including no property tax increase, a record investment in roads, enhanced public safety, quality-of-life projects, and generational initiatives. The meeting concluded with adjournment; no votes were taken on the budget itself, which will be subject to further department presentations and council deliberation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comment. The mayor opened and closed general public comment without any speakers.
Discussion Items
- 2027 Mayor’s Budget Presentation: Mayor Solomon delivered a detailed address outlining the proposed budget. He emphasized fiscal responsibility, noting that the budget is the second consecutive year-over-year decrease. Key highlights include:
- No property tax increase: The mayor recommended against a CPI increase for 2027, citing strong sales tax revenue (projected 3% growth in 2027, with 6.2% actual growth in 2026) and a desire to keep housing affordable. He also voiced support for Pennington County’s half-cent sales tax to offset property taxes, and suggested future state-level carve-outs for low-income shoppers on groceries and baby items.
- Largest road investment in city history: Proposed investments include $450,000 for a proactive road crew, $3 million for mill and overlay projects, $16.7 million in road reconstruction from CIP funds, and $17 million from the Vision Fund for a strategic growth fund (new roads). The mayor shifted philosophy to maintain existing roads earlier rather than waiting for full reconstruction.
- Public safety priorities: $3.2 million for the Northside Police Precinct on Knowwood Drive, $9 million (through TIF funds) for Fire Station 9 on the east side (which will also include police and library services). Plans to hire 15 new firefighters and 6 new ambulance personnel in 2027. The mayor noted 12 new police officers were added in 2026, and the police department is shifting resources to add more investigators for sexual crimes, especially against children.
- Quality of life enhancements: $66 million secured for an indoor sports facility (goal of $76 million via sponsorships), $500,000 from CIP for Main Street Square renovations (with another $500,000 planned for 2028), $7 million for Canyon Lake Park restoration, and $250,000 for the 2027 American Birthday Bash (following the successful 250th celebration). The mayor called for neighborhood parks in every new development.
- Internal review initiative: Assistant Finance Director Tracy Davis will lead an internal audit-like review to reduce waste and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.
- Innovation district: Plans to relocate the maintenance facility near South Dakota Mines and explore an MOU with Mines, Western Dakota Tech, and Elevate Rapid City for high‑best use of the land.
- Employer of choice: The city aims to remain competitive in pay and benefits, including transitioning to a PTO (paid time off) system combining vacation and sick leave.
- Generational projects: Airport terminal expansion, new maintenance facility, wastewater treatment facility phases, water treatment facility decisions, and data center regulations (to be presented in August). The mayor noted the city’s water quality was ranked best in South Dakota last year.
- Community investments: Public safety partnerships (dispatch, Humane Society increased funding), crisis services (Journey On requested $475,000, Cornerstone Rescue Mission $200,000 contingent on emergency shelter), and community enrichment (municipal band, symphony, etc. funded at requested levels).
- Council contingency: The mayor placed $820,500 in council contingency to allow council members to fund initiatives they collectively agree on (e.g., transportation for sports complex).
Key Outcomes
- The meeting was adjourned after the budget presentation. No motions or votes were taken on the budget itself. The council will hold subsequent department-level budget presentations as part of the ongoing process. The mayor encouraged council members to review the detailed budget book and raw data provided.
Note: The mayor’s presentation included a slideshow and emphasized that the budget is a proposal for council consideration. The 2027 budget year begins January 1, 2027.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good evening. Welcome to special city council meeting Monday, July 20th, 2026. We will begin with a roll call and determination of quorum. Lehman. Maher. Roberts. Here. Stroman. Here. Armstrong. Here. See, Chris. Here. Beaverdorf. Timang. Here. Evans. Meyer. Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. We'll now proceed with the Pledge of Allegiance. If you are willing and able, please stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic. One nation. Indivisible with liberty and next we will move to adoption of the agenda. I have a first and a second. All in favor? Second, we will move on to general public comment. I have no general public comment, so we will open and close that and then move on to non-public hearing items one through two. Number one is the 2027 Mayor's budget presentation by the Honorable Mayor Solomon. Good evening, Council. And looking at why we do these budget addresses, they're actually uh set by state statute. And that's what this is to you, a proposed city budget for your consideration. Um we have here is a slideshow. This slideshow is also found in the budget book. If you hopefully each of you have a budget book, uh you'll also receive the raw data in a spreadsheet as well. So we've tried to make sure that we have the most open, transparent numbers you could possibly have in any budget by giving you every piece of data that we have available, but also trying to put it together in a format that helps tell the story of where we are at in Rapid City. This will also be available on our city website uh for residents to download and view this budget book and see what you are looking at as you evaluate the budget for 2027. Now, as a reminder, this is just the beginning of the budget process. I kick it off with the address, and as we started last year with the tradition of having the each department come and share their department overviews and their budget with you, and that way you can do a deep dive uh not only into the numbers but also into the priorities that set those numbers and ask questions regarding the departments. I think last year we found it, although it's very time uh intensive, it we've all found it very worthwhile, and I have a great deal of appreciation and respect uh for the leaders that you have right here in the city government. Uh they are tremendous dedicated public servants, and uh so I won't go terribly deep into each of their departments tonight because they will have those opportunities to do that later, but all the information of course is available in your book. So with that, we will move on. I think there we go. So a couple of things I want to I want to highlight before we get into the meet is Rapid City has some great things going for us. Uh you know, we have these best love lists uh that come out each year, and there's all sorts. I want to be number one on all of them. It's hard to do that, but when you're talking about an entire country and the variety of lists that we are placed upon, these are really impressive.
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