Clay County cuts funds
On Sept. 29, the Clay County Commission approved funding cuts for the 2027 budget in a 3-2 vote for multiple non-mandated programs and county employees pay, saving about 24,000 dollars. Non-mandated agencies are services the commission can choose to provide.
These organizations include: Feeding Vermillion, South Dakota Teen Court Program, Public Libraries, Public Transit, “Grow Vermillion” campaign through the Vermillion Area Chamber & Development Company and the Clay County Conservation District.
The 4,000 dollar annual funding for the Vermillion Public Library covers library services for Clay County residents living outside of Vermillion. The investment historically waived the $50 annual non-resident card fee and provided. The library provides seven-day-a-week access to a variety of different library services and resources.
“I’ve always talked about needing to trim the budget and I always tried to wait until – I do wait until the last minute, hoping something else will happen,” said Travis Mockler.
Mockler is the Chairman for the Clay County Commission. He meets with department heads as the chairman in April and May to get an idea of what they’re thinking. Everybody gets the full budget in July and they examine where they can save money because “everybody’s tired of high taxes and everybody’s costs are going up.”
Daniel Burniston is the Library Director for the Vermillion public library.
“It’s disappointing to see after … 100 years of good faith effort on behalf of the county to see themselves willingly dismiss the services the library provides,” Burniston said.
The Vermillion Public Library is open seven days a week, totaling 73 hours per week. Most of the library’s funding comes from the City of Vermillion. The library had over 68,000 people come through their doors in 2025 with over 98,000 items checked out. They hosted 621 programs and almost 10,000 people attended them.
“The library director came in and spoke to us before we had to cut them … he told us that financially they’re fine,” Mockler said.
There was discussion that Clay County residents could still use whatever was in the library and that they had access to materials without a library card.
“There are 616 county residents who have a library card and have used it in the last three years,” Burniston said.
There are families who come in for story time, participate in a summer reading program, check out books, use the computers, etc. The library can assume the costs and allow county library holders to continue having cards or start charging out-of-town residents a $50 annual fee. This is a decision the library board will have to discuss again in their November meeting.
“Traditionally library usage goes up during bad economic times because people decide not to buy books and resources and not to subscribe to things like Spotify and Amazon Prime,” Burniston said.
The library can be a return investment with the activities that families don’t have to pay for. These activities are led by staff who are experienced working with an age group and collaborating with community members. These programs cover different spectrums of ages and interests.
“I can’t honestly say what it’s going to be used for because it’s like a savings account, rainy day. You know, things could happen,” Mockler said.
Mockler described how there’s always something each year. Last year, when the police station was turned into the treasure state attorneys, they didn’t know that it was a requirement to change the sprinkler system. That was $144,000 that they weren’t planning on spending.
“It’s not going to force us to cut anything immediately, but it will mean … when [planning] our activities in 2027, we’re going to have $4,000 less to work with,” Burniston said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 9:00am, county residents can share their feedback.
“We encourage any of our community members who value the library or their services, especially those who live in the county to go to that meeting and or call or email their commissioners and tell them why it’s important to them,” Burniston said.
