STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis City Council met in special session Monday night in order to continue 2026 budget hearings.
The council heard from some of their bigger spending departments; including police, fire, animal shelter, streets and parks, fleet, cemetery and Rally and Sponsorship.
The police budget for next year comes in at just over $2.7 million, which is $404,000 above last year’s budgeted total. Sturgis Police Chief Geody Vandewater says salaries and personnel expense make up the biggest part of the budget.
Elsewhere, fire comes in at $167,404 dollars, which is down from the 2025 budget of $170,000. And, the streets budget comes in at $871,662 dollars – which is up $60,000 over 2025. Sturgis Public Works Director Rick Bush says some of the biggest increases in the streets budget were for supplies and materials.
The Animal Shelter budget is up a bit for 2026 at $250,000, Parks totals $749,781 for 2026 and the Rally budget is $585,366. That is down from 2025’s budgeted total of $817,476.
The council is hoping to hold a first reading of their 2026 budget at their first meeting in November.
Meanwhile, the council last night decided not to raise the 2026 mill levy a penny. The current mill levy is $4.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value. For the 2026 budget, the maximum property tax for 2025 payable in 2026 would increase city property tax collection by $124,552 for a total of just over $3.25 million dollars. Council members decided not to take the maximum tax they could collect, which would have pushed the mille levy to $4.14.