Just in time for Christmas, the Watertown Public Opinion last week published Codington County Treasurer Carol Maloney’s naughty list—the property owners who are delinquent on their 2020 property taxes. Among Codington County’s tax forgetters is Republican paragon of virtue and Watertown Mayor Ried Holien, who apparently is late on paying the county $4,349.52 for his and his wife’s property on Lot 3 Block 3 of the Konrady Addition in Watertown.
Uh oh—If Ried doesn’t write a check to the treasurer this week, he might reach into his Christmas stocking and find a Ho Ho Ho-Lien.
Mayor Holien may bump into coworkers in the line at the Treasurer’s window. The tax delinquency notice lists “Tyler J McElhany” and “Tyler McElhany”:
- TYLER J MCELHANY KAMPESKA TOWNSHIP E525′ S560′ NE1/4 E525′ N670′ SE1/4 16-116-54—2020—1235.70
- TYLER MCELHANY RICHLAND TOWNSHIP E752′ S588′ SW1/4 35-117-54—2020—510.23
These may well be two different Tyler McElhanys, but there’s a fair chance that at least one of them is Watertown fire battalion chief and former Codington County Commissioner Tyler McElhany.
Hmmm… if public officials don’t pay their own taxes, are they actually not paying their own salaries? And how hard would it be for Treasurer Maloney to walk the couple blocks from the courthouse to City Hall and ask city finance officer Kristen Bobzien to take those delinquent taxes out of the mayor’s and the fire chief’s paychecks?
Also not square with Codington County is Crowned Ridge Wind II LLC, which owes two amounts in Waverly Township, Fransen Addition and Fransen 2nd Addition, 27-118-51, adding up to $1,021.38.
An outfit named Cracker Investments LLC owes $264.56 on Henry Village OL 21, Auditor’s Plat Henry OLS 8-116-55. Cracker Investments was filed as a DBA Business Name based at a P.O. Box in Hayti by Marty Maciel and Christal Lea Kannas of Henry in August 2015, but they let that name expire in 2020. A couple weeks later in August 2015, the curiously cased “cracker investments, LLC” was filed with the Secretary of State. The LLC, manager Marty Maciel, and Marty’s Bail Bonds, Central Montana Bail Bonds, Dakota Bail Bonds, and Michelle Maciel were sued in 2016 in Texas by Financial Casualty and Surety, Inc., for some snafu relating to bail bonds. Alas, the Googles are quiet on whether that suit crushed any crackers.
I suppose counties could give Mayor Holien, the wind farm, and all the other tax delinquents a break. With President Biden and other states’ taxpayers funding half of our state’s operations this year, some of that money is bound to trickle down to the counties and cover the gaps left by their delinquent taxpayers. Why should any of the locals pay taxes when we can count on Governor Noem’s warm embrace of federal socialism to see us through the year?
Well, I’ve got my real estate tax put aside. Florida like South Dakota has no income tax sooo they have to fund things somehow. Freedom rings. Property tax and sales tax. Hey if your going under, buy a house in Florida, our homestead law protects you from any debt on your castle. No liens on you. Protect your assets.
What Mr. Anderson writes is true. Buying property in Florida is a wise investment. Just buy in a neighborhood of like-minded fellows, if you wouldn’t mind.
My only experience of delinquent property taxes in this great state was when my mother was admitted to the Ft. Meade VA Medical Center in late September 1997 for burns on her lower left leg and was not released until early November same year. She, doh, did NOT get her check into the Fall River County Treasurer’s office on or before October 31.
I was not her guardian or conservator, but, golly gee whiz, did I get ultimatems from Fall River County to my home phone number in Denver, Colorado? Why, yes, yes I DID. I paid $935 for six month’s of property taxes for my mother’s 1 acre property/single family dwelling. Two beds, one bath, kitchen, hall, and living room.
She was merely a widowed WWII veteran herself who lost her husband, my father, in 1989. There can’t be any double standards here in South Dakota, can there?
A very close family member was Codington County Treasurer for decades. She ran unopposed, each election, as a staunch Democrat in a fully Republican County.
Only a squeaky honest Democrat could pull that off.
Every end of the year she was offered “Christmas gifts” to forget certain people’s name on the official notice, Cory’s research found.
Republican bribes never swayed our family.
Grudz….Looking for Slackards??? Look no further.
Porter, if anyone is offering our public officials “Christmas gifts” for amnesia, I’d love to publish those offers.
Bonnie, if your mom had just attended more GOP meetings and helped Dan Lederman avenge his party’s loss in the 2017 Watertown mayoral election, you never would have received any ultimata from the county.
You’re probably right, Cory, but she’d had enough of SD and passed in 2000. And I correct my previous post–this county-sponsored sh*tstorm occurred in 1995.