July 5, 2024

Red Cross Announces Free Smoke Alarm Installs & Inspections

The American Red Cross and AmeriCorps will be partnering with Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department and Fall River/Oglala Lakota County Emergency Management to install FREE smoke alarms as part of the Home Fire Preparedness Campaign.

Volunteers will be canvassing predetermined neighborhoods on April 9th from 11pm to 3pm.  Installation appointments can be made by calling 605-342-4010 extension 2176.  See the attached flyer for more information. FLYER

ASSESSMENT NOTICES – 2016

The 2016 Assessment Notices for Fall River County were mailed out March 1st. Property owners need to verify that all of the information on the assessment notice is correct, such as the legal description, number of acres, owner’s name and address, and class codes.

By law, all counties in South Dakota must demonstrate to the Department of Revenue each year that the assessed values are between 85% and 100% of fair market value based on the sales of properties in the county. If a property owner feels that their assessed value is greater than market value, please contact the Equalization Office so the property can be reviewed.

This was the final year in the 3-year Countywide Reassessment. All residential and AG properties have now been reassessed. The summer of 2016 we will conduct a reassessment on all commercial properties countywide.

***REMEMBER*** You will always see some kind of change in your value EVERY year, as properties depreciate or as sales fluctuate. These annual changes should be minimal now that reassessment has occurred. The only time you will see a significant change in your value will be the addition or removal of structures.

Value Report:

AREA 2014 2015 2016
Hot Springs City $   158,464,358 $   163,537,558 $   166,291,478
Edgemont City $      17,115,331 $     17,157,231 $     20,709,630
Oelrichs City $        2,678,830 $      2,630,820 $        3,492,590
Hot Springs School Dist $    356,649,977 $    392,696,408 $    403,078,538
Edgemont School Dist $       77,945,211 $       85,293,381 $       95,424,960
Oelrichs School Dist $       55,939,610 $       61,639,450 $       66,664,600
AG LAND – BARE $   138,359,553 $   146,760,638 $   149,790,778
County Wide Totals $  490,534,798 $   539,629,239 $   565,168,098
Total Countywide Increase = $   26,362,486 $   49,094,441 $   25,538,859

 

BUILDING NOTIFICATION FORMS:

See link

 APPEAL INFORMATION:

See link

 

South Dakota 9-1-1 Coordinator Receives National Award

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota’s 9-1-1 Coordinator is being honored this week for her efforts to help establish a new statewide emergency communications network.

Shawnie Rechtenbaugh of Pierre will receive the Government Leader Award Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. The award is being presented at the 13th annual NG9-1-1 Honors Awards Reception which is sponsored by the NG91-1-1 Institute, 911 Education Foundation and the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT).

Rechtenbaugh is an employee of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. She is coordinating the state’s efforts to implement a Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911) system.  The network would provide an advanced technological communications link to various emergency communication sites located statewide. The system, which will take years to fully implement, is the first statewide hosted 9-1-1 network in the nation.

As the state’s 9-1-1 coordinator, Rechtenbaugh has been working with the contractor building the system and has served as the contractor’s liaison to the South Dakota 9-1-1 Coordination Board. Department of Public Safety Secretary Trevor Jones says Rechtenbaugh’s work has been extensive and detailed.

“Shawnie has been working with 28 different emergency call centers statewide on this project,” Jones says. “It takes someone who has the knowledge, patience and ability to deal with different systems and people. That’s Shawnie. The sole reason South Dakota’s move to NextGen has been successful so far is because Shawnie is our 9-1-1 coordinator.”

Rechtenbaugh has worked in state government for 11 years.  She says the award is an honor.

“Putting together this new system is a challenge, but rewarding,” she says. “It has been an honor to be part of such a talented group of people who are working to forever change our state’s emergency communications infrastructure.”

Tuesday’s ceremony is being held in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Preparing – What to put in your Emergency Kit

The National Weather Service is predicting severe weather for the month of March.  Your emergency services would like to remind you to make sure you have an emergency kit ready.

BUILD A KIT, before you need it. After a major disaster the usual services we take for granted like running water, refrigeration, telephone and ATMs may not be available.

WATER: 1 gallon per person

RADIO:  Hand crank or battery powered

CLOTHES:  Change of clothes, jacket & blanket

FOOD: Canned goods, crackers, energy or granola bars

FIRST AID KIT:  Gloves, antiseptic, ointment, bandages & gauze

HYGIENE BASICS:  Toilet paper, soap, toothbrush, hand sanitizer & garbage bags

FLASHLIGHT: Have more than one and have spare batteries

TOOLS:  Wrench, pliers, can opener, whistle, paper and pencil

DOCUMENTS: Insurance, social security & medical information

MONEY: Cash in $1 denominations (others may not have change)

Taxes: Who Pays Them & Where They Go

Property owners in Fall River County received their tax bills in the mail this last week.  A number of people have asked questions regarding what portion of the tax burden certain classes of property are paying.  Below is a basic break-down of the 2015 (payable 2016) taxes.  These numbers are for the total taxes collected by the county. (Obviously those who don’t live in town don’t pay any tax to the cities.)  The actual percent of your tax that goes to each of these entities varies from tax district to tax district.  To find the exact percentage of your taxes going to each group please check out this earlier post.

Percentage of Total Taxes Paid By Property Class:

Agricultural  – 20%
Commercial – 13%
Residential (non-Ag) – 53%
Utility Companies – 14%

 

Where the Taxes Go:

School – 54%
County – 30%
Townships or Cities – 14%
Other – 3% (fire, ambulance)

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