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MITCHELL — The Davison County Commission approved a plan Tuesday to merge the auditor and treasurer elected positions into one and having a finance officer oversee both jobs.
The commissioners voted 4-1 to approve an ordinance for the change during a meeting that was a second hearing for the plan at the Davison County Fairgrounds. Commissioners Mike Blaalid, John Claggett, Denny Kiner and Randy Reider voted to approve the ordinance, while Chris Nebelsick was the lone no vote.
Under the plan, the terms of auditor and treasurer will expire on Jan. 6, 2025, and the commissioners will appoint a new finance officer after that point. The finance officer job would be eligible to be on the election ballot for the first time in 2026 and the elected individual would assume office on Jan. 4, 2027, which is the first Monday in January 2027.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Commission Chairman Randy Reider said in an interview after the vote. “This is an item we’ve talked about, we’ve had state and district meetings about budgets and customer service and how we can serve the public better. When you are a middle-sized county like we are, you have opportunities to improve what we do.”
The commission has indicated it will appoint Treasurer Dave Beintema to hold the new finance officer job starting in January 2025. About 50 people were on hand at the fairgrounds, giving an hour and 20 minutes of public input Tuesday.
Nebelsick, who opposed the measure on the first reading, said he spoke with the “quiet people” in the county and was concerned about the potential implications of an unfit candidate being elected to the job.
“We could have an unqualified person in that job, we’re at the mercy of whomever the public elects,” he said. “The one difference between the city and the county, the city finance officer is not beholden to the voters.”
He expressed his concern about the amount of stress it would put on Beintema.
“Dave is going to have to deal with us and the voters. I’m in fear of burning you out,” Nebelsick said.
Nebelsick said since commissioners have been vetting candidates for the open auditor’s office jobs, he said they had a chance to “hit a home run” with a new candidate.
“I don’t think this is a bad idea. Sometimes good ideas don’t work in Davison County sand,” he said. “No matter what, I will respect whatever this board says.”
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
Kiner, who has served on the county board since 2009 and is the second-longest tenured member of the commission, missed the first reading on Aug. 27 because of a medical procedure. He said he voted yes simply because of the efficiencies the change brings for the county.
“Checks and balances is not the issue,” Kiner said. “We get audited by the state all of the time. It’s about continuity and having an office that can run efficiently and effectively with one supervisor, that can cross train people. When we have license plates due, we have a line out the door and that’s because we only have a few employees who are trained to do that. We need to have unity and make those offices stronger that will serve the public well.”
Reider said during his presentation on Tuesday that including benefits, the auditor’s position accounted for about $102,000 in costs to the county. He said there’s no indication that the county needs to hire anyone new for the combined office and the finance officer job would receive a minor compensation increase for the new position. Entering 2024, the Davison County salary for the auditor position was $77,459.04, while the treasurer was $65,902.64.
Another hot-button issue on Tuesday surrounded the recent messaging from Davison County Republican Chairman Larry Mathis and Vice Chairwoman Sonja Van Erdewyk. In an email sent on Sept. 7 to other Republicans, they criticized the plan to merge the offices as an “unethical, if not illegal, action.” Four of the county commission’s five members are Republican.
“It’s a blatant misuse of the Davison County Republican organization,” said Reider, describing the email as alarmist. “As a member of the Republican Party in Davison County, you don’t speak for me.”
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
Reider, in an opening statement, refuted some of the recent items discussed by opponents of the measure. He said the single finance office arrangement is done in Brookings and Hughes counties, plus in the city of Mitchell government and regularly in large businesses without any issue.
“It told you to come to this meeting to voice your opposition, not to come to this meeting to tell us what you think,” Reider said of the email. “You mention unethical and illegal, those are bad words … to be alleging about the county.”
During his time to speak, Mathis said he didn’t appreciate Reider “knocking us down as the Republican Party.”
“One person says something, that happens. I’m not defending it,” Mathis said, seemingly backing away from the message that had his name to it. “To go after the whole party and say we’re a bad crew, or whatever the insinuation was, I don’t care for that at all.”
“I’m part of the citizens, I’m not part of the hierarchy,” Mathis added about his role as county party chairman.
Mathis also vowed that the ordinance would be referred to a vote of the public.
The referendum process has to be filed within 20 days of the ordinance being legally published in the Mitchell Republic newspaper, which publishes the county’s legal notices. A petition must have signatures of registered voters equal to 5% of the registered voters in the last preceding general election. Davison County had 12,057 registered voters at the time of the 2022 general election, meaning a successful referral would require 603 signatures. A potential special election would have to be held within 60 days of the signatures being filed.