Rapid City Council Budget Presentations for 2027: Monument and Public Works - July 28, 2026
Rapid City Council Budget Presentations for 2027: Monument and Public Works - July 28, 2026
The Rapid City Council met on July 28, 2026, to receive budget presentations for the 2027 fiscal year from the Monument (Rushmore Plaza Civic Center) and the Public Works Department. The meeting included detailed overviews of revenue, expenses, capital investments, and strategic priorities. No formal votes were taken on the budgets; the presentations were informational.
Consent Calendar
- The agenda was adopted by voice vote with no opposition.
- General public comment was opened and closed with no comments received.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- Monument Budget Presentation (2027): Executive Director Craig Baltzer and Deputy Director Tracy Heitch presented a $19.5 million budget, a 2% increase over 2026. They emphasized three goals: being a community center (50% of rental income from nonprofits/schools at 30%+ discount), an economic engine (2022 economic impact of $131 million, expected to have grown), and driving self-generated revenue (two-thirds of the budget). Revenue sources included food and beverage ($6.3M), reimbursements and box office fees ($3.1M), building rentals ($2.2M, increased 3% annually), sponsorships ($1.2M), and the BBB tax (one-third of budget, shared 25% with Visit Rapid City). Expenses: 45% personnel ($8.7M, up 1.4%), merchandise for resale, utilities (with efficiency efforts), professional services ($1.3M, including $475K credit card fees), and capital outlay. Since 2021, $8 million has been reinvested into the facility, including $3.7M planned for 2026-2027 (e.g., ice arena video production, LED lighting, roof sealing). Debt service includes a 2008 bond ($5M, paid off 2028) and a 2021 loan ($1.2M from the city, paid off 2031). Tracy reported 140+ ticketed events in 2025 across three venues, with over 383,000 tickets sold. The Monument partnered with 155 community groups, paying out over $288,000, and paid $1.4 million in sales tax. Councillor Meyer praised quality-of-place contributions; Councillor Evans asked about hotel needs and theater usage, noting the need for upgraded lighting/sound in the theater (original 1987 system).
- Public Works Budget Presentation (2027): Director Mike Tice and superintendents presented a $31.8 million water budget, plus other funds. Strategic priorities included street preservation (pavement condition index study starting August 2026, also evaluating sidewalks and ADA compliance), centralized services and efficiency, strategic self-performance (street crews doing work at 50% of contracted cost), safety standards, asset management (new citywide system), and facility/traffic modernization. Streets: Jesse Reeb reported on roadway preservation using mastic (11 blocks repaired for $41,000), salt usage cut from 492 to 246 pounds per lane mile (saving $30-60K per storm), and a concrete crew performing $1.4M work for $400K. A new six-person street crew will focus on mill/overlays and snow removal. The city plans an additional $3 million for mill/overlays in 2027-2028 (total $4.5M in 2027). Water: Eric Boyda highlighted lead/copper rule compliance (resolving unknown service lines) and the Mountain View filter rehab, which reduced coagulant costs from $18K to $5K per month. Water rates may be reduced due to TIFs and cost savings. Water Reclamation: Jeremy Castile reported the facility upgrade is 57% complete with 0.3% change orders ($650K on a $169M project). Goal: limit sanitary sewer overflows to 12 or fewer. The division is adding stormwater identification and proactive maintenance. Solid Waste: Mike Tice mentioned a new scale software to reduce lines, exploring landfill gas utilization, and a tire shredding partnership expected to start within 30-60 days. Equipment includes a 45-year-old road grader.
- Council Questions and Comments: Councillor Chris thanked for streets emphasis and asked about the $3 million CIP investment (clarified as additional to the annual $3M, total $4.5M in 2027). She also asked about pay adjustments for street crew (addressed in upcoming union negotiations). Councillor Evans expressed concern about concrete medians creating heat islands and suggested alternative designs. Councillor Maher asked about Skyline Drive phases (first phase in design, staggered over 6-7 years) and Carriage Hills Drive (first phase in CIP for 2027). Councillor Meyer voiced worries about lead notification costs for homeowners and urged council involvement; she also encouraged innovative water conservation policies. Councillor Secrets thanked stormwater crews and inquired about inlet mapping (ongoing televising and GIS updates).
Key Outcomes
- The agenda was adopted unanimously.
- Council received the presentations and provided direction to staff on several points: exploring alternative median designs (Evans), reviewing water rate reductions (Chris, Meyer), and involving council in lead service line replacement discussions (Meyer).
- No formal votes were taken on the budgets; they will be considered at a future meeting.
- The meeting adjourned after council discussion.
Meeting Transcript
The meeting is called to order. Can we please begin with roll call and determination quorum? I guess. Lehman. Maher. Roberts. Stroman. Armstrong. See, Chris? Here. Bieberdorf. Temang. Here. Evans. Mayor. Meyer, sorry. We have a quorum. Thank you. Next we will proceed with the Pledge of Allegiance. If you are willing and able, please stand. I pledge allegiance. See the flag of the United States of America. For which it stands. One nation under God. Next, looking for an adoption, uh, a motion to adopt the agenda. Have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Agenda is adopted. Next, we'll move to general public comment. I have no public comments in front of me, so we will open and close that and move to non-public hearing items one through three. Number one is the 2027 monument budget presentation by executive director Craig Baltzer. Sir, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President and Council. It's a rare occasion we get to speak all of to all of you at once. And so we do look at this as a real real uh opportunity for us. And uh we don't have a whole lot of time, so we are going to jump right in. I do want to introduce this is Tracy Heitch. She is the deputy director over at the monument. She'll be uh uh talking to you as well. Um first of all, most of you have heard this uh before, but we have three main goals at the monument. One, we need to be a community center. Now I'm not gonna go into all the good work and all the good uh uh uh organizations we work with. I wish I had time for that. There's really good stuff, but uh I'm gonna say it this way. Still to this day, 50% of our rental income comes from non-for-profit organizations and school events on a 30% or more discount. So that's more than half our business comes from that. We're very, very strong in community, and if you ever want to uh learn more about that, I'd be glad to talk to you about it.
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