Blame Game Over Long Wait

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Blame Game Over Long Wait

Minnehaha County residents wait in a long line to do business at the treasurer's office Thursday. This is what one might see at county treasurer's offices across the state of South Dakota, as the state switches over to a new computer system.

By Drew Sandholm

The blame game has been played for over seven consecutive days, causing long lines at county treasurer's offices across South Dakota.

Right now, the state is switching over to a new computer system. As a result, people have been forced to endure several hours in line to license their boat or switch the title on their car.

On Thursday, Minnehaha County commissioners spent much of the day on the phone with Governor Mike Rounds to figure it all out. However, it seems much of that conversation turned into a blame game.

As the commissioners spoke with Governor Rounds, some sixty people waited hours in line and Cindy Heiberger was one of them. A mother of four from rural Hartford, she waited nearly two hours to renew her tabs on-time. When asked about the long lines she said, "It's an inconvenience for everybody. It's everybody's time."

What exactly was accomplished in the closed door conference call between Rounds and Minnehaha County is still unclear. Commissioner Jeff Barth said that both sides have "a lot to work on" and that they had a "frank exchange of views."

In doing so, Barth says the county told Rounds that the new system takes too long and is loaded with technical issues. He says the state told them that they'll need to tough it out until those kinks are ironed out.

What about going back to the old system while the new one is fixed? Governor Rounds says that's not an option. While he wasn't availible for comment, his office sent a written statement sent to KSFY.

In that statement, Rounds said, "The new system has only been on-line for seven full business days. That's too short of a time span to consider dumping a process that hasn't had the proper time to get fixed."

Click here to see his full statement.

Barth said the all of the commissioners would hold another conference call with Rounds sometime soon and said Minnehaha County administrative assistant Ken McFarland would have the details. McFarland said that at this time, he didn't know when that meeting would be.

KSFY's Drew Sandholm can be reached by phone at (605) 373-7372 or e-mail.

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Saturday, Jul 12 at 4:45 PM Dick wrote ...

Who cares. It's not like you live in Iraq.

Friday, Jul 11 at 11:01 PM Cindy wrote ...

I was in my tresurers office on friday and what worked in the a.m. they said didn't work in the afternoon. No boats work yet or any specialty plates,motorcycles or trailors and they said the fees wearn't right,either charging to much or not enough. How much money does a county have to lose before Rounds admits they made a big state and took our state backwards in time. Indiana spent over eight million on this program and worked on it for seven years before putting out to the public

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