The new expansion at Blue Dragon Academy had a soft opening this week, and area youth and their "dates"- moms, dads, grandparents, etc are invited to attend a dance on Sunday at the facility, with ticket prices including photography and food; eight youth wrestlers medaled at State Tournament last weekend in Aberdeen and the 4th grade girls basketball team are champions; and a development was denied a permit north of Crooks this last week at the Minnehaha County Commission, plus more!
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The $500,000 tax opt out was passed by the voters on Tuesday, March 21st. The Gazette Editor came to the polling place at the American Legion just before the polls closed at 7 p.m.
Despite inappropriate jokes about ballot stuffing being made by a few lingering voters, no such thing occurred. The polls were fully staffed and all legal procedures and practices for vote counting were followed to the letter, and it was done in a professional and timely manner. One voter, who had arrived two minutes too late, was turned away as the polls had closed and the count began.
One provisional ballot had been set aside so that the voter’s registration could be checked with the count, but all other votes, same day, early votes and absentee ballots were counted.
In the provisional tally, there were 622 votes cast, 344 for yes and 277 for no. School Business Manager Jacob Schweitzer contacted the Gazette showing the document that would be presented to the school board with the final tally and the outstanding ballot had been recognized as valid by the County, bringing the total vote count to 344 yes and 278 for no. So, the Tax Opt-Out has passed by 66 votes, receiving 55 percent of the total vote.
On Tuesday, March 28, the Garretson School Board hosted a special meeting to canvass and approve the election results.
Last weekend, sixteen Garretson youth were state-bound for wrestling in Aberdeen, having put in a solid showing at Districts and Regions. Of those, eight wrestlers medaled in their weight category.
They headed to Aberdeen and faced off with youth wrestlers from all over the state, which included 126 teams who sent at least one wrestler to the tournament and nearly 1,500 young athletes.
Miles ChristensenMitchell ChristensenMason Story
Miles Christensen took home the gold for Garretson, winning all of his matches in Bantam 65. He took on wrestlers from Parker, Pierre, Beresford, and Howard and won by pinning each of his opponents.
Mitchell Christensen was not far behind, taking 2nd in Bantam 57 after falling to Oliver Umlauf of Dakota Boyz Wrestling Club in his final match. He won his first three matches against opponents from Yankton Jr Bucks, American Outlaws, and Bonne Homme.
Mason Story placed 3rd in Novice Heavyweight. His first match was lost, falling to Joeseph Dutenhoffer of Aberdeen but prevailing in his comeback dual against Devin Balestra of Sioux Falls Roosevelt. He re-matched against Dutenhoffer for the 3rd place final, and this time took him down in a pin.
Chase Johnson took home 5th place in Bantam 70, winning his first two matches against opponents from Aberdeen and Parkston. Unfortunately, he had a harder time against his opponents from Miller and Sturgis, taking the loss in both matches. However, the final match saw Johnson prevail by pinning Roman Weiss of Brandon Valley.
Isabella Rodengen placed 6th in Girls A 50. She won her first, third, and fourth matches against opponents from Lyman County and Rapid City Westside Raiders, but was hit hard in her second, fifth, and sixth duals against opponents from Custer, Bon Homme, and McCook Central-Montrose.
Grady Costello (Bantam HWT), Macie Miller (Girls B 82), and Zach Hermanson (Schoolboy 70) each placed 8th.
Other competing state tournament wrestlers were Luella Larson, Caleb Miller, Beckett Dickey, Landon Bekaert, Josephine Schmid, Eleanor Zimmer, Logan Bekaert, and Olive Story.
A huge thank you goes out to the coaches and parents of the Garretson Youth Wrestling organization, including Head Coach Vern Miller and coaches Dean Olson, Tyler Sorenson, Sam Johnson, Dan Bly, Nathan Bekaert, and Aaron Christensen. It is because of everyone's dedication that the Garretson Youth Wrestling program is strong, and impacts so many youth athletes.
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UPDATE 3/29/23: Miles and Mitchell were accidentally mis-labeled in the printed edition. This has been corrected in the online edition and in this article.
After districts and region competitions, sixteen Garretson youth wrestlers are heading to the state tournament to be held March 24-26 in Aberdeen. (photo submitted)
The Garretson 4th grade girls basketball team are repeat champions of the Big Sioux Youth Basketball League. The girls lost one game this season which happened to be the very first game of the season. They played a Brandon Valley team that won the game pretty handedly. However, the girls were able to get a rematch as they ended up playing that same team in the championship game! It was a neck and neck game, but at halftime the Blue Dragons found themselves trailing 7-10. After a pep talk from Coaches Lance Zell and Raegen Altman, the girls came out on fire for the 2nd half. They ended up winning a very physical game 22-18! Every single player improved throughout the season and the team had a lot of fun.
Pictured 2nd row left to right: Coach Raegen Altman, Lucy, Kendra, Athena, Drew, and Coach Lance Zell. 1st row left to right: Hailey, Charlie, and Kalla.
SIOUX FALLS – While a few people stayed to make random comments, at the end of a marathon Minnehaha County Commission meeting this week, much earlier, around 50 people were there to oppose a rezoning measure for a private development near Crooks.
The second reading and final vote on rezoning 61 acres of land from A1 Ag to Rural Residential was for the purpose of developing a subdivision of 25 to 30 lots, approximately one-and- one-half miles northeast of the Crooks/Renner exit off I-29.
This issue had been denied at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Feb. 28, but, as Planning Director Scott Anderson explained, all rezoning issues automatically go before the county commission for final approval or denial.
To recognize 45 years of service, Minnehaha County Register of Deeds (right) presents a plaque to Assistant Register of Deeds Cheryl Olson, who will retire on Friday , after spending over four decades doing a variety of jobs with the Register of Deeds office. (Photo by Dave Baumeister)
Developer and property owner Brian Hefty spoke of the benefits of the development for the tax base of Minnehaha County and Baltic School District.
However, 10 nearby landowners, representing many of the other people present to oppose the issue, talked about several other problems with the major drawback being the effect on Mapleton Township roads.
Several pointed out the increase of around 200 vehicles per day going over gravel roads two or more times each day, along with an increase of sanitation and delivery vehicles servicing the development.
A crowd of around 60 people attended the Minnehaha County Commission meeting this Tuesday, March 28. Most of those people spoke against or were opposed to a proposed land development near Crooks, but others spoke on a variety of other subjects at the meeting. (Photo by Dave Baumeister)
Problems with the proximity to Sioux Falls wells and frequent flooding impacting emergency services were also discussed.
Overall, though, those who spoke were not against development, but felt this location and plan were not appropriate.
In his rebuttal to opponents, Hefty acquiesced to many of the neighbor’s comments, but he did point out some erroneous information and made it clear, if not now, the land would be developed at some time in the future, and he asked for direction from the county and planning commissions on how to do it correctly.
Commissioner Dean Karsky also believed the development would eventually happen, but more needed to be done to make the project palatable to others.
A motion to deny the development and uphold the planning commission’s decision was approved 5-0.
Vacation rentals
In another planning and zoning matter, county commissioners approved the adoption of a new short-term rental policy on a 3-2 vote.
Planning Commission liaison Joe Kippley said that the ordinance verbiage was mainly to clear up old wording in the zoning ordinance.
As it is now, the best definition for a vacation/short-term rental falls under “bed and breakfast” rentals, and that doesn’t really apply to Airbnb/Vrbo-type businesses.
The new wording/ordinance called for the need of a conditional use permit for these types of rentals.
Karsky and Commissioner Jen Bleyenberg, the two “no” votes on approving the ordinance, spoke about the difficulties involved with the CUP process, and that it was overly burdensome to put property owners through that.
“This is a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist,” Karsky said.
The next meeting of the county commission will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4 on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building.
Garretson Citywide Rummages are coming up, as is the Garretson Clean Up Day. This year, the Clean Up Day will be held April 22, which is the weekend right after the rummages.
Despite fears there will still be snow on the ground, the Citywide Rummages are scheduled for April 14-15, which is the same weekend as the Jesse James Track Invitational.
"We [organizers] tried moving the dates around for the past few years, to see if there was a weekend that worked better and was a little later in the spring," said Carrie Moritz. "We just kept running into other larger rummages, such as Brandon Citywide and Kingswood, and our shopper numbers would be way down. So even though it's a leap of faith to run a citywide rummage in the middle of April, it just seems to work better."
To keep up with the logistics, all rummages are registered on-line. The Garretson Gazette sponsors the website and payments for the rummages, which is located at https://rummages.garretsongazette.com. Moritz says she's available to help anyone who needs to get registered, and welcomes them to stop over to the Gazette office located at 506 N Main.
The rummages are volunteer-run, and all registrations go straight toward advertising for the sale.
"The more people who participate, the more we can get the word out," Moritz pointed out. She said that in prior years, registration has been high enough to place ads in the Brandon Valley Journal and Shopper, the Dells City Journal and Shopper, the Garretson Gazette, and on Facebook. In order to run these ads again, at least 15 rummages need to be registered before Monday, April 3.
Any volunteers who wish to help spread the word on rummage sites and place posters can do so. Posters will be available by Friday, March 31 at the Gazette for pick up.
Despite advertising that the official dates are April 14 and 15, options for the 12th and 13th are available on the website. All rummages need to choose their own times and days they'll be open.
The following weekend, the City of Garretson will be hosting its annual Clean Up Day on Earth Day, April 22 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
At this time, residents are encouraged to bring large items to Garbage-N-More, located at 708 Nordstrom Avenue. Residents can bring anything except everyday garbage, paint cans, electronics, lawn chemicals, and unpainted construction wood or branches (dispose of branches at the city branch pile, other non-acceptable items can be brought to the Hazardous Waste Facility at 1015 E Chambers St, Sioux Falls).
Furniture, appliances, and painted wood will be accepted. Mattresses, box springs, and tires will be accepted for a charge (tires must be off-rim).
Springdell 4-H will be helping with the clean-up effort and will be available to pick up items for a donation to the club (along with any extra fees that may be incurred). This is helpful for anyone who does not own a large vehicle or will not be around that day. Pre-registration will be required, and inquiries can be directed to Anna Uhl at 605-310-7253.
The new expansion at Blue Dragon Academy had a soft opening this week, and area youth and their "dates"- moms, dads, grandparents, etc are invited to attend a dance on Sunday at the facility, with ticket prices including photography and food; eight youth wrestlers medaled at State Tournament last weekend in Aberdeen and the 4th grade girls basketball team are champions; and a development was denied a permit north of Crooks this last week at the Minnehaha County Commission, plus more!
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The Garretson Gazette sends a weekly email letting you know when this week's issue is available, along with a run-down of each week's articles. Please ensure you enter our email address () into your "safe emails" list and subscribe to our email newsletter using the form below. Thanks!
The Henry G. Fix Post 23 meeting opened on Thursday, March 2nd at 7:02 pm. The meeting was opened by Commander Nancy Grandy with a salute to the Colors, POW/MIA observance, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Preamble to the American Legion Constitution. Chaplain Tara Hough offered an opening prayer. 15 members were present.
The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and approved. The finance and social reports were approved. Bills were approved for payment. The amount given annually by the Jerome Johnson American Legion Scholarship was discussed.
A motion was passed to keep the annual scholarship at $500. The Service Officer, Jon Schmidt submitted that condolence cards were sent to the families of Dale Stoltenberg and Arden Sorenson. A get-well card was sent for David Swenson’s wife. It was discussed to send thinking of you cards to Dwayne Jacobson, Don Dorsman, Harlow Sundem, and Owen Wiese.
The membership report was given by Beth Welch. She reported that our 2023 goal number is 209 members. We currently have 26 Paid Up For Life members, and 170 renewals. 4 additional memberships are being processed. That will take us to 200 total which is 96% of our goal. Our March 15th goal is 90%, so doing well!
Bob Bennett gave the Americanism report. We currently do not have any boys for Boy’s State or the Youth Trooper Academy. The hardware for the new flags has finally arrived! Bob is looking at new ways to promote the Oratory Contest. Our Post passed a motion to donate $500 toward the Girl’s State attendees.
Paul Evenson reported that the South Dakota Legislature is currently in session. Many bills are being passed, but few are impacting our Veterans. Paul recently attended the National Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. Hot topics were mental health, suicide prevention, VA healthcare, equal treatment for Guard and Reserve, military quality of life, and Coast Guard pay if there is a government shut down.
Our Honor Guard team rendered military honors to Post member Dale Stoltenberg.
Brian Siemonsma gave the baseball report. He has met with several individuals about coaching positions.
Cody Linnweber is coming back to coach the 14 year old team! All equipment has been accounted for. Things are coming in to place for the upcoming season.
Commander Nancy Grandy presented the Post 23 Legionnaire of the Year Award to Tony Grandy. All present applauded his selection. His packet will be forwarded to the District for consideration as District Legionnaire of the Year.
Our Post has chosen Tad Hietkamp as Good Samaritan of the Year. Tad has been deeply involved in the Garretson Scholarship Fund, Garretson Fire Department, and has coached numerous sporting teams for the local school.
Our next Post meeting will be Thursday, April 6th. We will start early with the meal starting early at 6:30 pm. It will be our annual steak night and will recognize all new members. The meeting will start at 8:00 pm as normal. The next county meeting will be held at our Post on April 25th. The meeting will begin at 7 pm. The next District meeting is April 2nd in Hartford with a 1:30 social and 2 pm meeting. Post 15 is offering prints of the 2022 John Green painting of the State Cemetery. Information is available on their website.
Awards were given by Commander Grandy. Go-getter pins: Tony Grandy, Nancy Grandy, Paul Evenson, Gary Lyngen, Andrew Lyngen, and Brian Siemonsma. Department Commander Feltmans Cap Pins: Paul Evenson, Gary Lyngen, Andy Lyngen, Jim Kurtz, Rob Meyer, Tony Grandy, Nancy Grandy, Bob Bennett, Joe Vandersnick, Beth Welch, and Brian Siemonsma.
The monthly raffle drawing for February took place. Weekly winners were Jeff Lowe, Todd Lebo, Bryan Etrheim, Joan Meyer, and Norlyn Vanderberg with each receiving $150.
Commander Nancy Grandy closed the meeting at 8:15 pm. The Annual Post History was read by Historian Mark Wiesner after the meeting. Past Commanders gave their comments after the reading. A traditional historical meal followed the reading.
Preliminary Results of the Garretson School District #49-4 Opt Out vote for March 21, 2023 Total Number of Voters: 622. Yes Votes: 344. No Votes: 277. One ballot was set aside as provisional to be checked by the county, but at 7:36 p.m. all votes for the election had been counted by poll workers, and now the results will go to the Garretson School Board to be canvassed. The Opt Out has passed.
It's no secret that housing prices in the area have gone stratospheric since 2020, and that Garretson has been near the top of the list in housing prices for many years. And this is no more realized than each February 15-March 1, when property tax assessments arrive in homeowners' mailboxes.
Many homes in the Garretson area have doubled in value since 2017, the last year listed on the Minnehaha County Equalization website. This has impacted assessment rates, making for a higher tax cost to property owners.
Those assessments can be challenged. Equalization meetings are held each spring, where property owners can ask for a reduced amount on the assessed rate of their home. They can often receive a recommendation from the town council or township board to have those rates reduced, though it's on a case-by-case basis and is somewhat subjective. If those owners do not agree with the council or board's recommendation, they can appeal with the county directly to seek an assessment closer to the perceived value of their home.
According to the Minnehaha County Equalization office, assessments are based off appraisals for homes, using standardized procedures in a mass format each year. Since the appraisals work off of recent sales of similar properties, the increase in home sale prices have severely impacted assessments. Property improvements and building costs impact those prices, too.
1118 Dows St recently went up for sale at an asking price of $389,900. It was valued in 2020 at $219,900. Photo courtesy Realtors of the Sioux Empire website.
While the assessors at the equalization office don't set taxes, they are responsible for fairly setting property values, according to the equalization director, Chris Lilla. In 2022 with the Minnehaha County Commission, he blamed the hot sales market for increases in assessments.
However, the increase in interest rates over the past year have cooled that market off, something councilor Dave Bonte pointed out at the equalization meeting held by the Garretson City Council on Monday. The interest rate has made the higher-value homes, such as those sold over $500,000 in the past year, much less attractive as buyers find they have a set amount they can afford to pay each month.
This is unfortunate, said Bonte, as assessed values for 2023 have appeared to be higher than the actual purchase price a seller could get for their home. And it is unlikely that residents would see a reduction in those assessed values for 2024.
The Gazette took a random sampling of different addresses in Garretson to see what in-town homes were assessed at.
One home in central Garretson on Center Avenue that was valued at $59,500 in 2017, is now valued at $122,400. Another central Garretson home on 4th Street was assessed at $140,354 in 2017; this year it was $258,800. On the south end of town, a home on Leslie Drive was assessed for $232,793 in 2017. Five years later, it was $366,500, and this year, it was assessed for $441,800.
This means that tax assessments in Garretson have been in the double digits for most property owners, with the average increase for 2023 at 14% and 2022 at 18%.
The Equalization office attempted to keep the increase for this year between 10-20% for Garretson, according to City Finance Officer Paetyn Dreckman.
For the home on Leslie Drive, it was a 31.3% increase in valuation from 2022 to 2023.
Though the deadline for most homeowners to file for a reduction has passed, it is important to note that the full cost of property taxes for homeowners may not be as substantially affected.
A property valuation is relied upon by the auditor to determine the taxable value, and the total county budget determines how much cost burden is applied.
For instance, the house on Center Avenue paid $1,243.40 in property taxes in 2019. In 2022, property taxes were $1,473.86, making for an increase of $230.46, or 18%, despite an assessed value difference of $49,566. The house on Leslie saw an increase of $854.40, or 21.6% from 2019 to 2022.
However, it is important for property owners to keep an eye on their future assessments, ensuring that the county isn't over-valuing your property. Any homeowner who feels they need a new assessment can apply to have the equalization office survey their property at any time, even if the change in property values won't take effect until the next year.
There are options for those who are on fixed incomes and having difficulty making their property tax payments, including an assessment freeze for those aged 65 and older or those who are disabled. To qualify, an owner must be a South Dakota resident for the past 200 days in a single-family dwelling and must meet the annual income and property value requirements. Applications for the program are due to the county treasurer's office by April 1 of each year. Veterans may also qualify for property tax reductions or exemptions. To learn more about available programming, interested applicants can visit their local county treasurer's office or head to https://dor.sd.gov/individuals/taxes/property-tax/relief-programs/.
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