This campaign is about financial accountability, responsible governance, and making sure Custer County is positioned to protect taxpayers and pursue every dollar our community is entitled to.
Transparency — plain-language updates on decisions, spending, and progress so residents are never left guessing.
Accountability — corrective actions tracked to completion and results measured, not just promised.
Grant Readiness — stronger financial posture so Custer County can pursue every dollar of funding it is entitled to.
21+ years in cybersecurity and compliance. RNC delegate. Custer County resident committed to financial accountability and local voices.
These aren't abstract concerns — they are documented, public record, and directly affecting our community right now.
Four consecutive audit cycles — 2017 through 2023 — with the same repeat findings: cash reconciliation failures, illegal overspending, and failure to file required financial reports. County management has never formally responded.
In December 2025, the commission unanimously dissolved the law enforcement contract with the City of Custer — ending nearly 50 years of cooperation. The school district had to step in to save the school resource officer position.
The county must transfer $3.3 million in cash reserves to balance the current budget. A hiring freeze was enacted in March 2026. The highway department is running shorthanded. Revenue is down nearly $770,000 from the prior year.
I became a candidate the day I sat down with Custer County's audit reports — trying to understand why our tax dollars seem to come up short year after year. Our fees and levies keep going up, yet the same financial problems appear year after year, with only excuses and no action plan from management. The people who have moved here, raised families here, dedicated their lives to this community, and carried on the traditions that built Custer County deserve to know why.
Now residents are being asked to take on more — a fire opt-out, a new county sales tax option, stacked on top of existing levies. Some of that comes with modest property tax relief. But here's the problem: that relief only applies to owner-occupied homeowners. Renters pay the new sales tax. Seasonal residents pay the new sales tax. Younger residents who haven't been able to afford to buy here yet pay the new sales tax. Everyone contributes — but not everyone benefits. That's not relief. That's a shift.
Other states have found better answers. Florida exempts up to $51,411 of a primary residence's assessed value from property taxes — a real reduction, not a credit funded by a new tax. Texas voters approved raising their school district homestead exemption to $140,000, effective January 2026. These are structural solutions that reduce the burden rather than move it around. South Dakota and Custer County deserve that same conversation.
Better budgeting and oversight — starting with eight years of unresolved audit findings — is where that conversation has to begin. A county that manages its finances responsibly doesn't have to keep asking residents to make up the difference.
Sourced from public records, local news, and county commission documents. Updated regularly.
At the April 8, 2026 commission meeting, County Finance Officer Dawn McLaughlin warned that to balance the current budget, the county must transfer approximately $3.3 million in cash from reserves — leaving an estimated $4,551,000 remaining in the general fund. Revenue losses are attributed to the dissolution of the law enforcement contract, unpaid property taxes, and grants the county anticipated but did not receive.
Source: Custer County Commission Meeting, April 8, 2026; Custer County Chronicle, April 15, 2026The commission enacted a hiring freeze at the March 25, 2026 meeting after revenue for 2026 was estimated at approximately $2.23 million — down from approximately $3 million in 2025. Highway Superintendent Jess Doyle told commissioners his department was already down two to three employees. Commissioner Hindle said: "Hopefully it corrects itself."
Source: Custer County Commission Meeting, March 25, 2026; Custer County Chronicle, April 8, 2026Four consecutive audit cycles document the same findings: illegal overspending, cash reconciliation failures, and failure to file required annual financial reports. The 2023 audit alone documented 22 misstatements and negative cash balances. Across all four cycles, the commission submitted zero written management responses.
Source: SD Legislative Audit Division — Custer County audit reports, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023