SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken dove into the numbers during his 2025 State of the City Address on Monday. 

He spoke on homelessness, crime rates, street projects and more. 

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2,086

The Sioux Falls housing team helped 2,086 Sioux Falls residents in 2024. 

“We provide housing assistance through partnerships and different programs through a very, very simple mission,” TenHaken said. “We help produce, we help preserve, and we help rehabilitate different housing options in our community.”

The city invested $8.5 million in community housing projects like the 41 Flats. They have another $4 million set aside for 2025. 

5.65

The number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents in 2024 was 5.65. That is the lowest it has been since 2019 when the rate was 4.98. 

“In 2024, our community was the safest it’s been since pre-COVID, since 2019,” TenHaken said.

The number of property crimes per 1,000 residents in 2024 was 36.98. 

212

South Dakota Urban Indian Health connected with 212 people living on the streets in Sioux Falls in 2024.

The city partnered with SDUIH to provide an outreach team. Last year, SDUIH helped house 20 people. These people are “some of the hardest to house in our community,” TenHaken said. 

“They’re hard to house because of their barriers,” he added. “They’ve been through our justice system multiple times. In some cases, they maybe just aren’t ready for the step to take housing yet.”

13,118

The Link, a triage center for sobriety and detox, has seen 13,118 people from 2021-2024. TenHaken said 3,676 of those are unique individuals, which means on average, each person is seen at The Link over three times. 

“It’s not glamorous work. It’s very hard work,” TenHaken said. “When we talk about homelessness, a lot of times addiction is one of the root causes of that homelessness. The Link is one of the best investments this community has made to try and get at that root cause of homelessness.”

The city partnered with Southeastern Behavioral Health to work with patients to get them resources once they leave The Link. 

TenHaken also noted the average cost for 60 ounces of vodka is $11. He said the city is starting a campaign soon to tell people to stop handing out money to homeless people. 

“Handing out cash does not help. It’s not helping, it’s enabling some of these challenges,” TenHaken said. “Doesn’t mean we don’t have compassion, but it does mean we can’t enable some of this behavior. We have support services. We can’t hand out cash.”

$180 million

The total cost for major street projects in the city is $180 million. TenHaken said it’s hard to remember a time when the city had so many big road projects happening at one time. 

The intersection at Arrowhead and Veteran’s Parkway will be the largest intersection in South Dakota when it is completed in 2026. The project costs $29 million. 

“The traffic flow is going to be like an orchestra,” TenHaken said. “It’s going to be incredible. Short term pain, but long term gain.”

TenHaken also mentioned the construction of Veteran’s Parkway, I-229 and Cliff and I-29 and 85th Street, which will be the third diverging diamond in the city. 

The I-29 and 41st Street diverging diamond project was completed earlier this year. About 45,000 cars travel through the diverging diamond, TenHaken said.

“Since we’ve opened that interchange, we’ve seen a reduction of 95% in crashes,” he added.

30 million

Once the new water reclamation plant is completed, 30 million gallons of waste water will be processed daily, which is a 50% increase in capacity. 

“It’s important for the region because Tea, Brandon, and the city of Sioux Falls all send their wastewater to this plant. This truly is a regional wastewater plant,” the mayor said. 

This is a $250 million project, which TenHaken said the city will go into debt for, but he says is necessary for the growth of the city. 

$1,639

The debt per resident in Sioux Falls is $1,639. Compared to other cities, Des Moines’ is almost at $5,000, Fort Collins is the most comparable to Sioux Falls’. Rapid City’s debt per resident is $2,500. 

$25 million

Senate Bill 216, which provides property tax relief, was passed during this year’s legislative session. TenHaken said over the next 10 years, the city will lose about $25 million in operating expenses due to SB 216 passing. 

“The reality is that we will be making some changes in the coming months and years that residents will feel, I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” TenHaken said. 

The city will either have to raise revenue or find new revenue, which includes moving the convention center. The city has lost $2.9 million in revenue from the convention center from events canceling. 

If a new convention center is built, then the current one could be turned into an indoor recreation space for the city, which TenHaken said will be profitable for the city. 

In 2024, the West Side Recreation Center sold 5,442 day passes. 

78

Since the Public Safety Campus opened in late 2023, 78 first responders, firefighters, metro communications operators and new police officers have been trained there. 

“There’s a countless number of people who train out there, not only our own staff, our own firefighters, our own police officers, but throughout the region to improve their skills,” the mayor said. 

The Public Safety Campus cost $55 million.