With government offices closed, business carries on

By: 
Staff report

Staff report

 

With all but “essential” county, state and federal offices being closed during the COVID-19 crisis, many people are left to wonder how to conduct that business.

This week, the Branon Valley Journal has put together a tutorial on where and how people can still handle business, and what may not need to be taken care of during this time.

To handle much of this business, a person needs to have Internet access, but phone numbers of specific offices are included where those offices may be open.

Property taxes

Starting this year, a new online system is in place for people who have to pay Minnehaha County taxes.

Those needing to make a payment by April 30 can go to www.minnehahacounty.org/property_tax/index.aspx and click on the “Please click here” link toward the bottom of the page.

This takes the taxpayer to the GovTech site that handles property tax payments where you be asked to enter a last name or parcel number to find and/or pay taxes owed.

Property owners should have received tax notices over a month ago and can mail in payment with the tax coupon or drop it off the payment in the drop box outside the main entrance on the west side of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at Sixth and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.

For questions, call the treasurer’s office at (605) 367-4211.

Property tax payments are probably not needed from private homeowners who have mortgages on their property, as those are typically taken care of through escrow accounts.

License plates

Another function of the treasurer’s office is motor vehicle registration renewals.

Without making a trip to the office, new tags can be obtained online, at a kiosk or through the mail.

Online, people can go to sdcars.org/ and click on the “RENEW NOW” link on the left.

People who do not already have accounts will be prompted to make one in order to renew their license tags.

A quicker way to is to visit one of the two kiosks in Sioux Falls: 41st and Louise Hy-Vee or the Get-N-Go at 5400 Arrowhead Parkway. If this method is used, disinfectant wipes are advised to clean the kiosks. 

The third option is to renew tags by mail.

When motor vehicle operators originally received their renewal notices, the card had instructions for obtaining tags by mail.

For those who no longer have those cards, they can contact the Minnehaha County Treasurer’s Office.

While this option takes more time to complete, deadlines currently are on “hold,” as the state has asked law enforcement not to ticket cars for a month after they expire.

This extended grace period will end after April.

For those needing to pay taxes and get plates for new vehicles, they should have received information from the dealer, but may contact the Minnehaha County Treasurer’s office at (605) 367-4211.

Voting

While The good news for voting is that last week, South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett announced that all registered voters will receive an absentee ballot application in the mail for the primary elections.

While absentee voting for the Sioux Falls city and school elections is already taking place at the County Election Center at Sixth and Main in Sioux Falls, starting next week, voting will be combined with state primary election for Sioux Falls voters. As always, before folks can vote (and before they can apply for any ballots), they need to be registered. This, too, can be taken care of even though county offices are closed.

This time, there is a combination of online and mail registration process options.

Start by going to sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/register-to-vote/default.aspx and scrolling down until a button is seen to “download a voter registration form.”

This brings up a .pdf copy of a form that needs to be filled out, printed off, signed and mailed into the Minnehaha County Auditor’s office at 414 N. Dakota Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104.

After this process is complete, all registered voters will automatically be receiving an application for an absentee ballot.

On the application, voters will be able to select any election for which they are requesting a ballot. Again, fill out and sign the form, then mail it to the Minnehaha County Auditor.

Remember, voters must send in a copy of their driver’s license (or other official ID) with the applications or have the form notarized (they do not need to do both).

As Barnet has not yet given a date when applications will be mailed, there is still time for to obtain a photo copy of their driver’s license/ID.

One possible method is to take a photo of the ID with a cell phone and email it home, print it off and mail it with the application.

There may also be a method for emailing the photo directly to Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz at blitz@minnehahacounty.org, but voters should wait until the application arrives to look for that option.

An absentee ballot will then be mailed to the voter to complete and return.

Absentee voting can be completed at the County Election Center. Personnel at that site are taking extra precautions to sanitize and enforce social distancing.

For other questions, people can contact the Auditor’s office at (605) 367-4220.

Driver licenses

Moving on to the state, all offices deemed “non-essential” have been closed for the past month.

Because of that, on March 13, Gov. Kristi Noem ordered that all driver licenses that expire at this time will still be valid for up to 90 days after the executive order ends May 31.

However, people wanting to get their licenses renewed now, can go online to apps.sd.gov/PS11eSDDrivers/DLEligibilityCheck.aspx to see if they are eligible for an online renewal.

This can usually be done if a license was not renewed online during the previous renewal period.

Unemployment

Due to businesses being shut down around the country, there has been a huge spike in people applying for unemployment benefits. 

In Minnehaha County, that is no different.

People who have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis can apply for unemployment assistance at the South Dakota Department of Labor office at 811 E. 10th St. in Sioux Falls.

Because so many have been “furloughed” and hope to eventually be re-employed by the same employer, usual requirements, such as waiting for payments to begin and applying for a certain number of jobs every week, have been waived.

More information the process can be found at www.benefits.gov/benefit/1810 (there are links on this page that take people to the U.S. Department of Labor site) or by calling (605) 626-2452.

 

Category:

The Brandon Valley Journal

 

The Brandon Valley Journal
1404 E. Cedar St.
Brandon, SD 57005
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