911 Dispatcher: Fall River County Sheriffs Office is accepting applications for a full time 911 Dispatchers. The starting wage: $12.00/hour. Shifts are day, evening and overnight, and include weekends and holidays. Benefits include paid health, vision and dental insurance; vacation, sick and personal leave and South Dakota State Retirement.

The position involves substantial public contact, receiving incoming radio and phone calls, and entering information into the computer aided dispatch system.  Individuals must be able to multi task with accurate typing (35 words per minute) and computer skills. This facility handles multiple calls from different agencies which will need dispatched out simultaneously. Applicant must be able to remain calm and maintain composure and treat people with respect even under pressure in stressful situations. Individual must possess the ability to consistently think clearly; act quickly; and calmly in a wide variety of situations.

The position requires SD State Certification for radio dispatching. The training, completed in Pierre, SD will be provided to successful applicants.  Position requires a medical physical (UA and hearing test), fingerprinting and background check. Submit application (see law enforcement application below) to Fall River County Sheriff’s office, 906 N. River St. Hot Springs, SD. Open until filled.

See Employment page for application or other job listings.

The Fall River County Courthouse will be closed on Wednesday, February 1st due to the winter storm.

The Director of Equalization (DOE) completed the fourth year of the county-wide reassessment this year with the completion of the commercial reassessment.  As with the residential reassessment preliminary assessment notices have been sent to all commercial property owners.  These notices were sent on Friday January 20th.  If you are a commercial property owner and have not received a notice by the end of the week please inform the DOE at 605-745-5136.

These preliminary notices display the value changes ascribed to a property due to the field work that was conducted in the summer of 2016.  These new values are not reflected in the tax bill which was also sent in January.  (The January tax bill is based on values from the March 2016 assessment notice.) Commercial property owners have until February 10th to contact the assessors about these preliminary values.

Official assessment notices will be sent out on March 1st after which any changes will have to use the official appeal process. The deadline for official appeals is March 16th for Oelrichs, Provo, and Argentine; April 4th for all other locations in Fall River County.

For more information see the DOE webpage.

The Board of County Commissioners of Fall River County will receive bids for a one year period beginning January 22nd, 2017 and ending January 22nd, 2018 for the following supplies: base course, chips, fines, and sand.  For more information see 2017 Fall River County Annual Bids.

The Board of County Commissioners have allowed for sealed bids on 4 plow wings.  Sealed bids can be turned in to the Auditor’s office at 906 N River St, Hot Springs, SD 57747.  Bids must be received by February 7th at 10:15 AM. For More information see Balderson Wing Plow Surplus

As the value of the county increases, mill levies can decrease so long as budgets remain mostly the same. We are now seeing our third year of mill levy decreases as the county wide reassessment takes effect.  This year the greatest decreases are seen in the cities of Edgemont and Oelrichs which were reassessed just last year.

MILL LEVIES FOR 2016 TAXES (PAYABLE IN 2017)

Starting with our communities; Edgemont saw a 10% decrease to their total mill levy. The Edgemont city mill decreased 12%, the Edgemont school mill decreased an average of 10% (differs for Ag, Owner occupied and Non-Ag), the ambulance mill decreased 10%, and the county mill levy decreased 5%.

Oelrichs saw a 13% decrease to their total mill levy. The Oelrichs city mill decreased 24%, the Oelrichs school mill decreased an average of 6% (differs for Ag, Owner occupied and Non-Ag), the ambulance mill decreased 10%, and the county mill levy decreased 5%.

Hot Springs saw an average 4% decrease to their total mill levy. The Hot Springs city mill decreased 1%, the Hot Springs school mill decreased an average of 7% (differs for Ag, Owner occupied and Non-Ag), the ambulance mill decreased 2%, and the county mill levy decreased 5%.

Outside of these communities; property owners in the Edgemont School District saw an average 8% decrease to their total mill levy, the Oelrichs School District saw an average 5% decrease to their total mill levy, and the Hot Springs School District saw an average 6% decrease to their total mill levy.

Mill Levy Sheet 2016 (taxes payable in 2017)