RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City department budget presentations got underway this week at City Hall.

On Monday, the Rapid City Fire Department and Police Department presented their 2027 budget proposals to the Rapid City Common Council.

Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun presented the proposed $312.3 million 2027 City budget to the Rapid City Council last week. The proposed budget showed a 7.4 percent or $25 million reduction from the 2026 proposed budget of $337.3 million.

While a major piece of the mayor’s proposed budget was a $65 million investment in Rapid City road projects, public safety took the largest chunk of the city budget.

Rapid City Fire Department

The 184 person, eight station Rapid City Fire is requesting just more than $29 million for 2027, that’s down 1.3 percent from last year. The budget proposal holds the line on expenses from personnel, supplies, training and professional services with a $71,000 increase in utility expenses in 2027.

Included in the $29 million request is $21,006,146 for the fire department, $8,175,752 for ambulance, and $792,154 for hazard mitigation – which is largely grant funded other than a proposed $250,000 in city matching funds.

“Our department is efficient,” said Rapid City Fire Chief Jason Culberson. “It’s lean, it’s high functioning, we do a great job. We give a great value to this community and even adding Station 9 that value is still there.”

Rapid City Fire Station No. 9 project will construct a new Fire Station and City Park near the intersection of Homestead Street and Neel Street in Rapid City. This station also includes a police substation. Estimated cost for the project is $9,168,553 and will add 15 new firefighters and six ambulance personnel.

Rapid City Finance Director Dan Ainslie said a combination of factors – one more pay period in 2026 than 2027, the number of employees using health insurance, and staggering new personnel – allowed the 2027 fire department budget to decrease over last year despite adding staff.

“There are savings for these various different things but in 2028 the budget is going to be higher,” Ainslie said. “There’s some one-time things that make 2027 more affordable than what you would anticipate but in 2028 it’s going to be more expensive.”

In 2025, the Rapid City Fire Department responded to 22,591 calls for service and transported just less than 12,000 patients. That number includes 2,263 calls for service outside Rapid City. A 2.5 percent increase in call volume – or 23,156 calls for service – is anticipated for 2026.

Rapid City Police Department

The 214-person Rapid City Police Department is requesting a $30.6 million budget for 2027, an increase of less than $12,000 over previous year. Personnel is the largest portion of the budget proposal at $25,089,851.

The Rapid City Police Department has three divisions: Patrol with 120 employees, support services with 46 employees, and criminal investigation with 48 employees.

Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick said no new full-time equivalents (FTEs) were requested in the 2027 budget as the department was currently trying to fill 12 positions through grants. Staffing requests would be re-addressed in 2028.

“Overall, year to year, we feel like we’re in pretty good shape,” Hedrick said.

Current initiatives the department is currently managing include the downtown foot patrol, parole task force, street crimes unit, north precinct remodel, mobile medic, Crisis Intervention Training and a variety of other training and outreach programs.

The police department answered 157,000 calls for service in 2025 and, of those, more than 17,000 would be classified as cases that involved more investigative work. Calls for service, cases, and arrests have all increased over the past five years.

Revenue for the city’s budget comes from a variety of sources. Sales tax accounts for $98,736,636, utility fees account for $56,873,696, property taxes account for $26,861,091, tickets, leases and user fees account for $27,546,970, grants and other funding account for $23,516,273, and a handful of other sources complete the revenue picture.

More information

The 2027 proposed Rapid City budget can be accessed online at the City’s home page at www.rcgov.org in the Community Bookmark section.

City Council leadership has set aside four days of special sessions for City department budget presentations and discussions regarding the proposed 2027 City budget. The sessions are scheduled July 28 at 3:30 p.m. (The Monument) and 4 p.m. (Public Works); July 29 at 3:30 p.m. (Human Resources), 4 p.m. (Information Technology), 4:30 p.m. (Mayor’s Office) and 5 p.m. (Parks and Recreation); and July 30 at 3:30 p.m. (City Attorney’s Office), 4 p.m.  (Community Development), 4:30 p.m. (Rapid City Regional Airport), 5 p.m. (Rapid City Public Library) and 5:30 p.m. (Finance).