Minnehaha County Budget meetings and Opt-Out

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The MCC will likely approve a major opt-out to help pay for extra staff, mostly due to crime rates going through the roof. I have suggested (as well as commissioner Barth) that the city of Sioux Falls pay an arrest fee for every person they arrest that is booked into the jail to help curb the costs of the new jail.

I guess 28 positions have been requested by department heads. MedStar Ambulance and Jasper Ambulance have not requested (additional?) funding from the county. The deadline has passed for more than a week.

REMAINING BUDGET SCHEDULE

June 4, 1-5pm            Initial budget presentation to County Commission. Department hearings as requested by Commission.

June 6, 8-12 noon       Budget deliberation and hearings for departments will be scheduled before the County Commission.

June 19, 8-12 noon     Budget Deliberation and hearings as directed by Commission.

July 8, 8 to 12 noon    Budget deliberation if needed.

The following will all be held during regularly scheduled Commission Meetings:

July 9                        Action on additional opt-out by Commission. (Last date to approve additional opt-out is July 15th.)

July 23                      Final review of provisional budget in preparation for July 30th adoption.

July 30                      Adoption of Provisional FY20 County Budget.

August 27                  Museum, library, and 911 presentations to Joint City/County meeting.

September 3              Public hearing for Final FY20 County Budget.

September 10             Final briefing on FY20 Budget.

September 17             No Commission meeting, SDACC Convention.

September 24   Final date for Adoption of FY20 County Budget.

UPDATE: Is Med-Star Ambulance Service in Financial Trouble?

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UPDATE: as I understand it, Med-Star may be going thru a rough patch, but they vow to stay in service and have no plans to shutdown.

I guess Med-Star missed an important expense report with Minnehaha County this week, and now the rumors are stirring.

I do know that Med-Star passionately asked for some more money from the Minnehaha CC not to long back, and when denied, owner, Jay Masur cussed them out.

While I have heard some ‘interesting’ tales as to why this is happening, that’s none of my bizzo. I’m just saying let’s keep our eyes open.

This is what it looks like when you hire someone with qualifications

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I about fell out of my chair when I read the new 911 Director’s resume;

The Metro Management Council has selected Scott McMahon to serve as the Director of Metro Communications Agency 9-1-1.

McMahon will be responsible for managing the operations of Metro Communications Agency 9-1-1, a consolidated public safety communications center responsible for the dispatch of all emergency services within the City of Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County.

A native of Big Stone City, SD, McMahon received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Mount Marty College, a master’s degree in criminal justice from American Military University, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.  For the past 25 years McMahon has served in various leadership roles within the Watertown, SD Police Department including Assistant Police Chief.  Most recently, McMahon served as Captain of Support Services which included management of the department’s 911 communications center covering Watertown and a six-county area of northeast South Dakota.

“McMahon brings a wealth of knowledge, training, and experience to this position,” said Paul TenHaken, Mayor of Sioux Falls.  “The Metro Management Council looks forward to working with Scott and his team in their vital role in our community.”

Finally, someone working for the city and county that actually has experience and proper education, you might even say he is ‘overqualifed’. See how easy that was.

Another Funeral, uh I mean, Wedding Barn

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Here we go again (Presentation at the beginning of meeting above) another Wedding Barn. This one is near the new Veterans Cemetery. I guess quite a few neighbors showed up to say they didn’t want it there (Joint jurisdiction with the county and city even though those opposing the barn do NOT live in city limits).

One of the reasons is noise from bands, and the fact it is a heavily traveled gravel road already and people are wondering who will pave it and pay the cost. One of the biggest complaints the neighbors had was that they were never notified or asked if they wanted to live next to a cemetery (they were not notified of the re-zone from ag land) and they were pretty perturbed that the cemetery is going in so close to their residences. I guess when the city wants to rezone they don’t have to get permission from the county, but it seems it is the other way around when the county wants to rezone.

While I wasn’t opposed to the cemetery I still think the Feds or the State should have paid the good taxpayers of Sioux Falls for the land.