SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) — The city of Sioux Falls held a budget hearing Tuesday evening were they heard from the police and fire departments on what they would be tackling for the new fiscal year.
Police and Fire
The Sioux Falls Police Department is asking for $57.7 million for their proposed budget. One major concern they highlighted with their budget is the retention of officers in the city.
Jon Thum, Sioux Falls Police Chief said they are struggling to keep up with the turnover rate of officers.
“For us it comes down to people and retention,” said Thum during the hearing. “If we could lower the number of turnovers we can increase our impact.”
The city plans on adding seven full-time equivalent officer positions, the current amount of officers at the police department stands at more than 280 officers and plan are setting their goal to be over 300 officers by the end of the year.
Thum said with it taking several months to train an officer filling those spots can be extremely difficult.
Thum said they are running some programs to get a jump on hiring, adding that there are currently 48 officers who are at retirement age or will be retirement age by the end of the year in the Sioux Falls police department.
Thum said people aren’t the only thing they are trying to add to the department.
“Our primary expenses are primarily people, but with all those people they need vehicles,” said Thum. “We are looking to add 18 vehicles to our lineup by the end of the year.”
The Sioux Falls Fire Department is asking for $43.9 million for their proposed budget.
Matt McAreavey, Sioux Falls Fire Chief said training and workforce development will be taking a priority along with retention and addition of their more than 200 firefighters.
“Our personnel will always be a key area of focus,” said McAreavey. ” Its important to keep our staff trained, developed, and keep them happy and healthy.”
Public Health
Public Health Department is asking for $19.6 million for their budget proposal.
One of the major concerns for public health was the rising number of homeless patients they were seeing.
Joe Kippley, Public Health Director spoke on the more than 1,400 homeless people they saw in 2023 and how they are addressing the homeless situation.
“Its hard to work towards solutions on problems if you don’t measure them. We are playing our part but there are no silver bullets and its going to take a lot of collaboration, maybe not ever solving it but bringing forth a sustainable solution,” said Kippley.
Kippley said they will be digging into that data deeper and making sure they are helping local people better.
