Sioux Falls Arboretum Excluded from Mayor’s Spending Plan
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether is taking some heat for cutting funding for the city's botanical garden from his proposed 2016 budget.
Last year, Huether's five-year spending plan called for $136,000 in 2016 and another $425,000 in 2017 for improvements to the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum. But Huether's 2016 budget plan contains no money for the 115-acre garden.
Sioux Falls City Councilwoman Michelle Erpenbach tells the Argus Leader that year-to-year changes in budget proposals are expected, but to have a long-term project like the arboretum cut completely is questionable.
Huether says the decision to cut next year's arboretum funding was about prioritizing. He says the city has "unlimited wants and needs but has limited resources."
Arboretum Director Lori Kiesow says she's optimistic the council will reinstate the funding.
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