Sioux Falls city officials say financially the city is in good shape but they fear homeless individuals around the nation will begin to take advantage of mid-western hospitality.
Sioux Falls Mayor Paull TenHaken said the city has to walk a fine line when it comes to support services for the homeless.
“We have to make sure that we are giving hand-ups and not hand-outs. Its homeless awareness month right now, I’ve got an event at Bishop Dudley right after that, they are doing incredible work, so is St. Francis, so is the Banquet, all of those things. You need to keep supporting those people who are doing the work, because they are doing great things. But I don’t want to become a city where people are driving up here from Kansas City to stay here, because it’s so much better here than Kansas City. And I don’t think any of you want that either. So, to do that, we have to be fair, but compassionate as well,” said TenHaken.
TenHaken spoke to the Sioux Falls downtown rotary group. He said the city’s approach to homelessness stems from local input.
Shawn Pritchett is the Director of Finance and Innovation and Technology. He said Sioux Falls has improved its bond rating.
“Ten years ago when we opened up the event center, we were up in the sixty percent range at that time. So, we have continued to reduce that, and we are only dedicating twenty to twenty-five percent of that capitol program to debt retirement. So, overall, we have stayed very low from that perspective. But we do regularly bond probably every four to five years. Our last one was the public safety training facility," said Pritchett. "Obviously, the aquatics and rec bond is the next one. On the positive side, Moodie’s just upgraded our debt to AAA-one from AAA-two where we were for many years. So, the market is telling us we are in a very good place.”
Pritchett said the city has always operated with a healthy budget and that’s why it’s attractive to individuals struggling in other cities and states.
TenHaken said there’s an open invitation for people to move and work in Sioux Falls - if they “make money and create a community benefit.”
