County Confronts Potential VSO Cuts

The proposed budget, which Gov. Kristi Noem presented to lawmakers earlier this month, would also include cutting the headstone mounting fee to mount veteran plaques onto private cemeteries, Klimisch said. The figure comes to about $60,000 per year for the entire state.

“I guess the state is so hard up for the money that they won’t even provide reimbursement for that anymore,” he said, referring to the proposed $7.3 billion state budget for fiscal year 2026.

The current state funding already falls far short of what Yankton County invests in its VSO personnel and office, Klimisch told the Press & Dakotan.

“Each county who has a VSO gets a very small reimbursement,” he said. “For example, our budget is, I think, around $70,000-75,000 and we get about $4,200 back from the state. It’s supposed to be a supplement to help VSO operations, but it’s really tiny. It should be much more than that, and that’s being cut. And I think it will be a permanent cut.”

Yankton County VSO Rob Stickney is facing increasing stress as the only full-time VSO in southeast South Dakota, Klimisch said. Stickney is serving not only a full workload of Yankton County veterans but also veterans who come to his office from surrounding South Dakota counties and even northeast Nebraska, he added.

“Other counties may have a VSO in name only. They hold other jobs and work with the VSO part-time,” Klimisch said. “And unfortunately, we’ve heard some stories where (their offices) maybe didn’t have the answers the veterans wanted.”

As a result, those veterans come to Stickney, which often takes away time from Yankton County residents or makes him unable to meet with them at all, Klimisch said. Also, Stickney has skipped lunch to work with veterans who come to his office.

“We have a really good guy here (with Stickney), and word gets out when he’s good and does a great job,” Klimisch said. “So, we’re kind of getting overwhelmed with the number of people that are coming here.”

Klimisch said he unsuccessfully sought a regional answer to the problem.

“I went and I spoke with all our surrounding counties. And quite frankly, there was no interest in creating a VSO office where we would serve everybody,” he said.

“I’m a little disappointed in that. And I think that kind of leaves us with the choice that we have to change our policy to reflect what the state has done (to create this situation). We service Yankton County veterans, and then maybe we do out-of-county veterans on a case-by-case basis.”

Commissioner Wanda Howey-Fox called for making Yankton County veterans a priority. If time remains available, out-of-county veterans could make appointments rather than drop in at the Yankton County office, she said.

Commissioners John Marquardt, Don Kettering and Ryan Heine also agreed about the growing burden on Stickney, fueled by the shortfalls in state funding and the lack of full-time VSO in other counties.

Suggestions included setting aside one day for non-resident veterans who want to use Yankton County services or even turning them away altogether. In the latter case, veterans could seek an appointment at Sioux Falls or other sites, or those veterans could put pressure on their own counties to provide needed services.

“I really hate to turn away veterans,” Marquardt said, noting Stickney feels the same way.

Klimisch told the Press & Dakotan that the public needs to contact their state legislators to reject any proposed cuts to VSO and other veterans programs.

“I think the point tonight was to let the citizens of the community know that the state is proposing to cut this budget, which is vital to us, and we hope that our Legislature realizes that this is a mistake and at least restores the funding for that $4,000 we are currently receiving,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s fair to ask veterans and their families, who’ve already sacrificed so much, to now sacrifice even more. And it also seemed a little really out of touch that the Department of Veteran Affairs (is) actually adding staff in other areas, but this, then cutting this whole program, it just doesn’t seem like it makes a lot of sense.”

In other county business Tuesday, the commissioners:

• Approved a cannabis renewal license for Freedom Farm;

• Spoke by Zoom with Larry Dean of the South Dakota Department of Transportation about Federal Highway Administration adjusted urban boundaries;

• Heard from Ambulance Administrator Eric Van Dusen about upcoming retirements for billing staff members over the next two to three years and future needs in that office, along with a proposed ambulance purchase in future years and the current rotation of usage among the four ambulances;

• Approved providing county employees carrying the county health insurance with a reduction equivalent to the amount paid by single employees;

• Met with Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Deb Lillie about the possibility of assigning bond forfeitures to cover youth diversion and truancy programs.

Follow @RDockendorf on X.