Rapid City Special City Council (Department Budget Session) 07-30-2026

Rapid City Special City Council department budget session on July 30, 2026, covering proposed 2027 budgets for the City Attorney’s Office, Finance, Community Development, the airport, and the library. No procurement awards or spending motions were made; the council heard budget presentations and questions, then voted only on a recess and adjournment. Community Development proposed a one-time $500,000 purchase of parking kiosks to replace aging meters, which currently cost more than $120,000 annually to maintain. The department also plans an enterprise asset-management program and continued electronic permitting work; its permit and service-fee analysis, with fees reportedly unchanged for over 40 years, may inform a future request for additional staff. The Finance Department described plans for centralized purchasing and travel arrangements using existing staff, and noted potential implementation of meeting-management software.

The airport reported a $70.4 million terminal expansion underway and described the next phases, with the terminal building estimated at about $85 million and related apron work bringing the overall project to roughly $110 million. A future runway project was discussed at an estimated $100 million, and the City expects to collaborate with the airport on bond financing; a bond issuance for an indoor fieldhouse is also anticipated around the following year. Community Development said federal and state sources are expected to reimburse about 82% ($762,639) of its long-range planning budget, and noted CDBG investment in parks. The library’s proposed budget faces a funding gap: the county’s provisional budget includes $81,000, compared with the library board’s $373,000 request. The City Attorney’s Office discussed filling two attorney vacancies and a roughly $12,000 increase in legal research resources. These items were presented as budget plans or projections, not approved contracts or awards.