Financial turmoil arises in the town of Buffalo Gap
BUFFALO GAP, S.D. (KEVN) - Financial concerns unfolded in the town of Buffalo Gap, with details coming out about the city being behind on IRS payments and sales tax fund payments that should have been paid years ago.
The new financial officer for the town of Buffalo Gap shared with us documents regarding the unpaid taxes, some of which date back to 2021. Including details regarding the fact that the state hasn’t audited Buffalo Gap since about 2016. For reference, the state of South Dakota requires all counties to be audited at least once every two years.
“It was really interesting to me that they hadn’t had an audit just because if you own a business and you do accounting, you turn all your stuff in every year, you do your taxes, you do all the things, and you want to make sure that all the legalities are, you know, everything is in order,” explained Buffalo Gap city finance officer Shelly Harris. “I feel like we’re making some progress; our state auditor has been amazing in answering all our questions, and anything that I don’t know, he’s been good at educating. So he sent me all the templates that the state had and said, This is the way the state expects you to do it.”
The town is currently in the process of getting audited and is working with the state. Regarding the unpaid taxes, as of Monday, the town’s board of trustees, with the recommendation of the town’s attorney, voted to pay $14,590.78 in unpaid taxes; this includes taxes for the first quarter of 2024.
A member of the community voicing his thoughts on the transparency the new CFO for the town is bringing to the table.
“They’re actually showing people documents; when I requested documents earlier, they wouldn’t give them to me. If the treasurer gives something to members of the board, the treasurer also has to provide that to the public. So that’s a change, and I think we just have to put everything back together,” expressed Buffalo Gap resident Herman Wells.
The new financial officer of the town added that this is just the first step in many steps to get the town on the right track once again.
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