The Custer County Commission is pursuing a Fire Protection Opt-Out — a new property tax levy that would be added to every property owner's annual bill, with the stated purpose of funding rural fire departments. Before that vote happens, you deserve to read what the commission's own meeting minutes say about how they got here.
SEAL SD has loaded every available Custer County Commission meeting minute from February 2018 through January 2026 into a searchable database. Any resident can search those records for free at sealsd.com/app. What follows is drawn directly from those official public records — not from press releases, not from social media, not from AI summaries.
"This is merely a band aid."
— Commissioner Hartman, Custer County Commission Minutes, June 18, 2025, referring to the county's approach to fire department funding
The commissioner who supports additional fire funding called the proposal a band aid. Not a solution. Not a plan. A temporary patch applied to a problem that has been building for years while the commission had other tools available and chose not to use them.
What the Minutes Actually Show
- CSP Contract — $8,678.17/year: Custer State Park, visited by hundreds of thousands annually, pays the county only $8,678 per year for law enforcement coverage. The Sheriff warned that 24-hour coverage could be lost without renegotiation. Contract renewed at the same below-market rate.
- Courthouse HVAC Grant — 50% available since 2024: Maintenance Supervisor Joseph Panza confirmed there is no backup system if the current HVAC fails. A 50% green energy grant on cooling system replacement was identified in September 2024. No application has been filed.
- School Resource Officer removed: Law enforcement was removed from Custer's school building in early 2026 — no public debate, no vote, noted in the January 20, 2026 minutes after the fact.
- Ambulance coverage gap: Cardiac arrest response time increased to 30 minutes or more without mutual aid agreements. At the November 2024 meeting, the issue was noted. No resolution documented in available minutes.
- Multiple audit failures: The county's audits have documented budget overdrafts in violation of SDCL 7-21-25, cash reconciliation failures, and late financial reporting — across multiple audit cycles.
The $8,678 Question
One of the most remarkable findings in the minutes is the Custer State Park law enforcement contract. Custer State Park is one of the most visited state parks in the region — hundreds of thousands of visitors, significant traffic enforcement demands, wildlife drive incidents, and emergency calls that fall to county deputies.
The county charges $8,678.17 per year for that coverage. Under protest, according to the minutes. The Sheriff explicitly warned that 24-hour coverage could not be sustained under those terms. The commission renewed the contract anyway.
Meanwhile, the same commission is asking Custer County homeowners to pay a new property tax levy because fire services need more money. If the county collected fair-market compensation from the state park visitor economy it services — rather than charging below cost — some of that funding gap would already be closed.
The Grant Nobody Applied For
In September 2024, the commission was presented with specific information about a 50% green energy grant available for the failing Courthouse HVAC system. The LED lighting upgrade — 210 new fixtures with a rebate from Black Hills Energy — demonstrates the county can act on grants when it chooses to. The cooling system grant has not been pursued as of the most recent available records.
A 50% grant means state or federal money pays half the bill. Pursuing it doesn't require a tax increase. It requires filing an application. The commission was given this information more than a year ago.
SB 96: The Tool the State Already Gave You
On March 12, 2026, Governor Larry Rhoden signed SB 96 into law. It allows counties to impose up to a half-cent local sales tax — with every dollar required by law to go toward reducing property tax mill levies. Custer County, which hosts Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park and sees millions in annual tourism revenue, is precisely the kind of county this bill was designed for.
Under SB 96, visitors, tourists, and anyone who shops in Custer County would contribute to the cost of services they use — including fire protection. Year-round homeowners would not bear the entire burden. The state legislature gave every county commission in South Dakota this tool. The question is whether Custer County will use it.
Custer County's tourism economy generates significant retail and service transaction volume annually. A 0.5% sales tax — the maximum allowed — applied to that volume would generate a meaningful annual sum. Every dollar collected must by law reduce property tax mill levies. The commission has the authority to implement this. They do not need a voter referendum. They have not announced any evaluation of this option.
What a Band Aid Looks Like Over Time
Commissioner Hartman's description was more accurate than he may have intended. A band aid addresses a symptom. It does not fix the wound. A county that is charging Custer State Park $8,678 per year for law enforcement, declining to apply for a 50% HVAC grant, failing multiple audits, removing the school resource officer, and watching ambulance response times climb to 30 minutes is not experiencing a revenue problem. It is experiencing a management and prioritization problem.
Adding a new property tax levy in that environment doesn't fix the management problem. It funds it.
Before the Vote
If you are a Custer County property owner, these are the questions you are entitled to have answered before any new levy is approved:
- Has the commission calculated what SB 96's local sales tax option would generate in Custer County annually? What is that number?
- Why is a new homeowner property tax levy being pursued instead of the sales tax mechanism the governor and legislature designed for exactly this purpose?
- Has the 50% green energy grant application been filed for the Courthouse HVAC system? If not, why not?
- What is the status of renegotiating the Custer State Park law enforcement contract?
- What corrective actions have been taken in response to the documented audit failures?
These are not hostile questions. They are what accountability looks like. A commission that cannot answer them before asking for more money has not earned the ask.
Every finding in this article is drawn from official Custer County Commission meeting minutes from 2018–2026. Those minutes are public records. They are available at custercountysd.com/commission-minutes/ and have been digitized and indexed at sealsd.com/app where any resident can search them for free. Jefferson's standard for self-governance was an informed citizenry. The records are available. Use them.
Jerry Odom is the founder of SEAL SD. All findings cite official Custer County Commission meeting minutes, South Dakota Legislature (SB 96, signed March 12, 2026), and published state audit records. Download the full print-ready accountability report at sealsd.com/documents.
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