BROOKINGS City staffers have been working behind the scenes for months hammering out a budget proposal for 2026 and, at Tuesday nights Brookings City Council meeting, the public and councilors alike got their first glimpse at it via the property tax levy request.
The dollar amount adds up to $4,408,219 for 2026, which is an increase of $209,516 from the current years total of $4,198,703. The citys growth factor, pegged at 2.09%, and the Consumer Price Index of 2.9% both played into the calculation presented by Finance Director Ashley Rentsch. The numbers in those factors come from Brookings County, and both are capped at 3% per state law.
We want Brookings to grow, but if it grows at more than 3%, then its going to end up having an adverse effect on the citys budget and what it can provide for the public, City Councilor Bonny Specker noted.
In Brookings, property taxes go into the citys general fund and play a critical role in funding services such as those provided by the police and public works departments.
City Councilor Lisa Hager chimed in as well, asking how the levy request in Brookings compares to other cities in South Dakota of similar size.
The city of Brookings has one of the lowest property tax levies in our 10 most comparable peers in South Dakota, Rentsch said. The only ones lower than us are Spearfish and Watertown.
The proposal, formally known as Ordinance 25-030, needs to be approved by Oct. 1, and will be voted on at the City Councils meeting on Sept. 9. Its basically the first step that will launch a series of study sessions and council meetings, all open to the public, over the next few months. It typically wraps up in mid- to late November with a City Council vote that formalizes the citys budget for the following year.
In other business at Tuesday nights meeting, councilors:
- Approved, on a 7-0 vote, a budget amendment that will take into account a $120,00 Lowes Hometown Grant for improvements at the Brookings Public Library, while also allocating $54,900 for design and development services by Johnson Controls Inc. for a future chiller replacement project at the Brookings City & County Government Center.
- On a 7-0 vote, agreed to transfer an on-off sale malt license at 4300 S. Main. Ave. from Edwin Alvarez, the owner of Yessicas LLC, to Rebeca Maria Salas, who owns Qiubo Restaurant LLC. In a related matter, and also on a 7-0 vote, councilors also authorized City Manager Paul Briseno to enter into a 10-year on-off sale wine operating agreement with Salas.
- As part of the consent agenda, which was OKd on a 7-0 vote, also gave the go-ahead to Briseno enter into an on-sale liquor operating agreement with Den Wil Hospitality Group for 2515 Sixth St. The group will remain as the liquor license holder, but is changing its doing business as from The Lodge to The End Zone.
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