Dispatch services still in question

Sheriff Jim Bruggemann updated commissioners on the current happenings of the communication center at the meeting last Monday, July 15. 

Brueggeman and Commissioner Steve Tucker attended a special meeting in Keith County, where establishing a new billing formula and cost for dispatching services was discussed. 

Brueggeman said Keith County presented two proposals. Based on the different formulas, the first proposal had Perkins County paying $108,100.35, while the second proposal was $64,823.54. 

Currently, the county is paying $75,000, with the four-year contract expiring in December. 

Bruggeman said Keith County and KC Emergency Manager Elizabeth Sillasen will go back to the drawing board and come up with a fair proposal for everybody that meets the needs of what was discussed at the meeting. 

Cheyenne County is also working on a contract to provide dispatch services for Perkins County. 

Deputy McCreedy resigns 

Perkins County Sheriff’s Deputy Blake McCreedy accepted a position with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Omaha. He gave notice on July 1 and his last official day was July 15. 

An Omaha native, McCreedy started with PCSO in August 2017. 

Deputy Brian Gertsch recently started with PCSO. Stay tuned to the Tribune for more details.

Valuation protests

Two taxpayers were on the Board of Equalization agenda to protest their 2019 property valuations. 

Mid America Agri Products/Wheatland Industries, LLC, protested their $13,385,246 valuation, stating the valuation is in excess of fair value for tax purposes. Their request for valuation was $7,336,042. 

The ethanol plant of Madrid’s 2017 property valuation is currently pending in the Court of Appeals after the county appealed the decision made by the Tax Equalization & Review Commission (TERC). TERC is currently holding the 2018 protest. 

The 2019 valuation is down over $3 million from 2017 and 2018 after the county had an appraisal completed on the property. 

The second valuation protest came from Robert Krems, and stated the home didn’t have central air or heat and listed a number of maintenance repairs needed on the home.

The property valuation is set at $159,690. Krems requested the value of the home itself be reduced by around $10,000. He explained how the home was built and believes the value is too high based on the fact the home doesn’t have air conditioning or heating. 

Taking that into consideration, the commissioners voted to lower the valuation $4,820 to a total of $154,870.