RAPID CITY, S.D. –South Dakota workers, including ag producers, have less than two weeks left to apply for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) benefits. The deadline to apply for DUA is Wednesday, Dec. 18.

South Dakota workers who lost their jobs or whose income was affected by the severe winter storm, snow storm and flooding that occurred Oct. 3-16 can file a claim by calling the Unemployment Insurance Call Center at 605-626-3179. DUA is available to those whose employment or income have been affected by the disaster but are not eligible for state unemployment benefits, including ranchers, farmers and the self-employed.

“Bottom line, if you are self-employed and lost income due to the October blizzard, I would encourage you to call 605-626-3179 to find out if you may be eligible for disaster unemployment benefits,” said Federal Coordinating Officer, Gary Stanley.

DUA is available for individuals who live or work in Butte, Corson, Custer, Dewey, Fall River, Haakon, Harding, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Pennington, Perkins, Shannon and Ziebach counties as well as the Cheyenne River Reservation and the Pine Ridge Reservation.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

To see the official FEMA press release click on the link here.

Real property situated in Fall River and Shannon Counties upon which taxes for the year 2012 remain due and unpaid will be offered for sale to the public on Monday, December 16, 2013 at the office of the County Treasurer at the Fall River County Courthouse in Hot Springs. The sale will take place between 9:00am and 4:00pm and will continue from day to day until all properties have been offered for sale. Properties will be sold for the amount of the delinquent taxes charged against said property and the accruing cost of sale.  Any remaining unpaid special assessments for the year 2012 will be added penalty, interest and cost of advertising and the accruing cost of sale.

For those unfamiliar with this process:

The purchase of a tax certificate does not constitute purchase of the land. Purchasing the tax certificate is equivalent to paying the taxes and fees on a property, if you then pay the taxes on that property for the required number of years (3 years in town, 4 years for rural) you may then take legal action to acquire the land. If during that time the current landowner wishes to buy back the tax certificate they may due so by paying back the purchase price of the certificate plus interest.

List of Delinquent Taxes for Fall River County

Leased Sites

Mobile Homes

Real Property 

List of Delinquent Taxes for Shannon County

Lease Sites

Mobile Homes

Real Property

Deadlines This Week:

Thursday, October 31st: Property Taxes are due. Payments made after this deadline will include interest and fees.

Friday, November 1st: Yearly Tax Exempt form are due to the Director of Equalization if you organization want to maintain property tax exemption in the following year. Churches, community centers, and other charitable organizations fall into this category. Make sure your organization has it’s forms turned in so you do not lose your property tax exempt status.

Livestock Loss

• Producers need to document their livestock loss. Proper documentation is critical to ensure processing of potential claims
• Suggested record keeping would include dates, photos, description of animals (type of livestock, number of head, weight, sex, age, etc.), vaccination records, pregnancy test records, hauling receipts, collection of all identification tags and any other information that would verify the loss. A third-party signature and statement to verify losses will most likely be required. Veterinarians, extension offices, and many other resources may be verifying third party agents. Employees and family members are not eligible.
• Conservation Districts can serve as third party verifiers for producers documenting livestock loss. Producers can call the Conservation District office in their county at the following numbers: Fall River – 605-745-4007, Custer – 605-673-4971, Bennett – 605-685-1243

Rendering Services

• The South Dakota Animal Industry Board (AIB) will be coordinating disposal of livestock carcasses on state roads and state right of ways with Dakota Rendering Service.
• For carcass disposal information, contact the AIB at 605-773-3321
• Carcasses located on or along county-owned or privately owned roadways must be removed by the respective county or private owner of the roadway
• The removal of carcasses located on private land is the responsibility of the animal owner or land owner.
• AIB provides guidance for on-farm carcass disposal on their website at: www.aib.sd.gov

Livestock Identification

• The State Brand Board inspector will be involved in identifying livestock and livestock carcasses
• Dakota Rendering Service and County Emergency Management offices are providing livestock identification to the Animal Industry  Board (AIB).
• If a producer locates carcasses on his/her land which are not theirs, they can contact AIB or their County Emergency Management office to provide the livestock information to them.
• AIB also has available a fillable pdf form on their website, which producers can use to report death losses. This reporting is voluntary, and does not replace the record-keeping that should be doen by individual producers. The livestock death loss report can be obtained at www.aib.sd.gov
• If you have questions regarding livestock identification you can contact the State Brand Board at 605-773-3324

Emergency Manager for Shannon and Fall River Counties: Frank Maynard, 605-745-7562

Helpline: 877-708-4357 or 2-1-1

Additional information on helplines, volunteers, assistance, and donations can be found here:Fact Sheet – 2013 Blizzard