OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Rapid City Council Meeting: Budget Discussions and Votes on August 27, 2026

City Council — Thursday, August 27, 2026
BodyRapid City, South Dakota
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, August 27, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:21:48

Transcript — Verbatim
4:45

This meeting will come to order.

5:00

Here.

5:00

Evans.

5:02

Meyer here.

5:03

We have a quorum.

5:05

Thank you.

5:05

Next we will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

5:11

Pledge allegiance of the United States as America.

5:16

And two publication under God.

5:22

Liberty and Justice for all.

5:28

Looking for a motion to adopt the agenda.

5:30

I have a motion by Crest and a second by Lehman.

5:33

All in favor say aye.

5:35

Aye.

5:35

Any opposed?

5:36

No.

5:37

We have an agenda.

5:38

Next is general public comment.

5:40

I have no comment request forms.

5:42

And so we'll open and close that and move on to non-public hearing items one through five.

5:48

Number one, authorize mayor and finance director to sign sports complex.

5:54

That's for two.

5:55

Um sign sports complex construction manager at risk agreement between the city of Rapid City and Skull Construction.

6:02

And we will move to Greg Strowman.

6:05

Move to approve.

6:06

Second.

6:07

Have a motion by Strowman and a second by Roberts.

6:10

All in favor say aye.

6:11

Aye.

6:11

Aye.

6:12

Any opposed?

6:12

No.

6:13

Motion approved.

6:15

Next we will move to number two.

6:18

Authorize the city.

6:19

Excuse me, I do have a public uh comment on number two from uh Mark Millar.

6:31

Good evening.

6:32

I'm uh I just asked to speak on this thing because then hound dogging you guys pretty hard and I hadn't heard anything about this yet.

6:41

Um I know there is not a grant out there that the city doesn't take a bite at.

6:47

I suppose that's good for us all if we get any federal money out of it, but I don't know if we should take bites at grants that might not suit us.

6:55

So I'm hoping to uh enlighten you guys and or actually I'm hoping to ask you to enlighten me.

7:03

Um tell me about this a little bit, tell the people that are watching.

7:10

Thank you, Mr.

7:10

Millar, and uh I apologize.

7:13

I did have that speaker request form, so there are no more in front of me, so we will open and close um the speaker request forms at this time.

7:21

And uh I'll read in number two to authorize the city to submit an application to the FY26 Department of Justice Model Cities initiative.

7:39

Callie Meyer.

7:40

May I direct a question to Chief Hedrick?

7:46

Chief Hedrick, floor is yours.

7:50

Would you uh give us some context on this item?

7:53

Sure.

7:54

Thank you.

7:55

So we learned about this grant, and um you know we don't have every single uh we won't get all of the details and all of the strings attached to it until it you know if we are actually awarded.

8:09

That's when we'll get all that information.

8:11

But it is quite a large grant and we learned about it, and we thought it would be worth putting our name in the hat.

8:17

So we have penciled out what it could potentially look like for us, and it does require that we partner with uh not only the county, um specifically the state's attorney's office, the sheriff's office, and it does require signatures from multiple offices from the county along with us, and we're working those avenues currently as we speak.

8:39

And we've sort of penciled out what it could potentially look like here in Rapid City, focusing on uh not only things that we're currently working on, um, bolstering our programming in violent crime and firearm investigation, um, bolstering some of our quality of life and mobile medic programming uh revolving around homeless and housing support, um, bolstering some of the prosecution and supervision and coordination around though that programming specific to firearm and gun violence.

9:13

Um very uh detailed programming specific to our parole task force unit that we've been working on.

9:24

And uh it it's uh you know I can go in detail further.

9:29

We did put some information, it's is attached uh to the um uh help me out here in our pup agenda, thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████████████████37%
Personnel Matters████████████████████20%
Parks and Recreation███████████11%
Public Engagement████████8%
Procedural██████6%
Public Safety████4%
Senior Services████4%
Transportation Safety████4%
Affordable Housing███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Rapid City Council Meeting: Budget Discussions and Votes on August 27, 2026

This meeting of the Rapid City Council focused primarily on the mayor's proposed 2027 budget, with multiple motions to adjust funding for various departments and community programs. Votes were taken on several items, including reductions and increases to specific budget lines. The council also approved a construction manager agreement and authorized a grant application.

Consent Calendar

  • Authorize mayor and finance director to sign sports complex construction manager at risk agreement with Skull Construction. Approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mark Millar spoke on item 2, asking for clarification about the Department of Justice Model Cities grant application. He expressed concern about the city taking grants that might not suit them. Chief Hedrick responded that the city would only accept the grant after full review and council approval. The application was approved.

Discussion Items

  • Item 2 – DOJ Model Cities Grant Application: Chief Hedrick explained the grant would focus on violent crime, firearm investigation, homeless support, and prosecution coordination. The council approved submitting the application.
  • Item 3 – Mayor's 2027 Budget Discussion: The council debated and voted on numerous amendments:
    • Reduce council contingency fund to $100,000: Motion by Armstrong, seconded by Roberts. Passed (1 no vote).
    • Allocate one FTE for code enforcement ($93,443): Motion by Secrets, seconded by Roberts. Passed.
    • Take CPI increase for property taxes (approx. $780,000): Motion by Maher, seconded by Armstrong. Roll call: 7-3 in favor.
    • Add one FTE to community development (planner, $145,946): Motion by Roberts, seconded by Armstrong. Passed.
    • Reduce mayor's office budget by $200,000: Motion by Strowman, seconded by Roberts. A substitute motion to reduce by $100,000 (Secrets, seconded by Evans) passed 6-4.
    • Reduce 4th of July celebration from $500,000 to $100,000: Motion by Armstrong, seconded by Strowman. Roll call: 8-2 in favor.
    • Increase funding for Canyon Lake Activity Center and Meneluzahan Senior Center to $50,000 each: Motion by Strowman, seconded by Roberts. Passed (1 no vote).
    • Fund rapid transit driver compensation ($182,523): Motion by Meyer, seconded by Armstrong. Passed.
    • Increase Journey On allocation: Maher initially moved but withdrew after clarification that the mayor's budget already included the full $475,000 request.
    • Additional funding for parks (4 FTEs, $124,969; professional services, $120,000; emergency planning, $7,423): Director Ainsley requested these. Motions by Armstrong, Roberts, etc. All passed.
  • Item 4 – First reading of ordinance 6748 (FY2027 appropriation): The council moved to continue to the September 8, 2026 meeting due to Labor Day. Passed with 1 no vote.

Key Outcomes

  • The council contingency fund was reduced to $100,000.
  • One new code enforcement FTE was approved.
  • The city will take the CPI increase on property taxes, adding approximately $780,000 in revenue.
  • One new community development planner FTE was approved.
  • The mayor's office budget was reduced by $100,000.
  • The 4th of July celebration budget was reduced to $100,000 from $500,000.
  • Senior center funding was increased to $50,000 each for two centers.
  • Rapid transit driver compensation was increased by $182,523.
  • Parks received additional funding for four FTEs, professional services, and emergency planning.
  • The appropriation ordinance first reading was postponed to September 8, 2026.
  • The mayor's proposed budget for Journey On ($475,000) was retained.
  • Total reduction in undesignated cash use: $1,021,035, leaving revised undesignated cash use at $2,513,285.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting will come to order. Here. Evans. Meyer here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Next we will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance of the United States as America. And two publication under God. Liberty and Justice for all. Looking for a motion to adopt the agenda. I have a motion by Crest and a second by Lehman. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. We have an agenda. Next is general public comment. I have no comment request forms. And so we'll open and close that and move on to non-public hearing items one through five. Number one, authorize mayor and finance director to sign sports complex. That's for two. Um sign sports complex construction manager at risk agreement between the city of Rapid City and Skull Construction. And we will move to Greg Strowman. Move to approve. Second. Have a motion by Strowman and a second by Roberts. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Motion approved. Next we will move to number two. Authorize the city. Excuse me, I do have a public uh comment on number two from uh Mark Millar. Good evening. I'm uh I just asked to speak on this thing because then hound dogging you guys pretty hard and I hadn't heard anything about this yet. Um I know there is not a grant out there that the city doesn't take a bite at. I suppose that's good for us all if we get any federal money out of it, but I don't know if we should take bites at grants that might not suit us. So I'm hoping to uh enlighten you guys and or actually I'm hoping to ask you to enlighten me. Um tell me about this a little bit, tell the people that are watching. Thank you, Mr. Millar, and uh I apologize. I did have that speaker request form, so there are no more in front of me, so we will open and close um the speaker request forms at this time. And uh I'll read in number two to authorize the city to submit an application to the FY26 Department of Justice Model Cities initiative. Callie Meyer. May I direct a question to Chief Hedrick? Chief Hedrick, floor is yours. Would you uh give us some context on this item?

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