City OKs LEO contract

Thirteen months after negotiations began, the City of Custer and Custer County have agreed on a new contract and will see the Custer County Sheriff’s Office resume providing law enforcement services to the city.
At its Aug. 17 meeting, the Custer City Council unanimously approved the latest proposed contract from the county after clearing up some language issues within the contract, including verbiage that the sheriff’s office would immediately begin providing 24/7 coverage to the city upon signing. Custer County Sheriff Derrick Reifenrath said at a July Custer County Commission meeting that would not be possible right away, as the sheriff’s office force had been allowed to shrink as retiring deputies were not replaced after the contract between the city and county expired at the end of 2025.
“Pursuant to discussion about the law enforcement contract, we are signing this agreement, trusting our law enforcement officers to perform their duties to protect and serve this community we all care about,” alderwoman Jeannie Fischer said before a unanimous vote took place.
The contract expires in 2029, and for the remainder of 2026 will be prorated from a $600,000 base rate based on the days remaining in the calendar year once the agreement is signed by the Custer County Commission. The commission held a special meeting this morning, presumably to formally accept and sign the contract.
The remainder of the contract calls for the city to pay the county $600,000 in 2027, with a six percent increase over the next two years, which means the city will pay the county $636,000 and $674,160 in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
After 2029, the contract calls for the city to pay the county a 10 percent increase above the prior year’s paid amount, with the contract then running on a one-year basis unless it is modified or terminated by either party. In the event the parties are unable to negotiate a new contract at that time, a written notice of termination must be served to the other parties by June 30, 2029.
The contract brings to a close over a year of sometimes acrimonious negotiation that included both sides rejecting offers and the county at one time acknowledging the contract would expire and rescinding all offers. At one point private citizens got involved and offered to work with the two sides to work toward an agreement on a contract.
As negotiations progressed in 2025, the county sought a three-year pact that saw the city pay $500,000 in 2026, $650,000 in 2027 and $750,000 in 2028. This allowed the city to budget accordingly to get to the requested dollar figure, the commission said.
At that time, the city’s final offer was $500,000 for 2026, with a six percent increase in each of the next two years. That was the offer the county rejected at its Dec. 18, 2025, meeting, before negotiations began anew this spring, with both sides eventually moving off those previously requested numbers to reach the agreement finalized this week.
Also on the agenda for the special commission meeting to be held today was discussion to hire six new deputies for the purposes of fulfilling the law enforcement contract with the city, as Reifenrath had said at a previous meeting that once the sheriff’s office was fully staffed it would resume providing around-the-clock coverage for the city, and six deputies would be assigned solely to working within the city.
Wednesday morning the Custer County Commission approved the contract and it was signed. The commission also approved moving ahead with hiring seven new deputies—six new ones to help fulfill the county contract and one more to replace a deputy who had tendered his resignation.
Also at the meeting, the council unanimously approved a resolution establishing the boundaries of Business Improvement District (BID) No. 2 and creating a board for same.
This is the first step in Custer Hospitality’s desire to construct an events center on the Hwy. 16 frontage at Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort.
Mike and Bonnie Tennyson, owners of Custer Hospitality, which owns the camp resort and  five hotel properties around Custer, first pitched the idea of an events center at the July 6 meeting of the Custer City Council, with Mike Tennyson proposing to fund the project through creation of a BID.
A BID is where local business owners and/or property owners collaborate to fund improvements and marketing. BIDs are authorized by state law and collect a special assessment or occupation tax from district businesses to pay for beautification, events and tourism promotion.
In this case, the district would be Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort and Custer Hospitality’s five hotels. An additional tax would be added to fees at the resort, which in turn would help service the debt, operating services, etc., of the center.
This format differs from a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District, which municipalities and counties can use to capture additional tax revenue to make needed improvements. Under a TIF the project costs are paid from the money generated by the tax increment, or the difference between the amount of the property tax revenue before the TIF district is created and the tax revenue generated after.
Under a BID, no property tax money is used toward the project, and the City of Custer and its residents would not pay a dime toward the project or have any financial responsibility.
All of the businesses in the boundaries of a BID must be represented on the BID board, with this BID meeting that requirement because all of the properties within its boundaries are properties of Custer Hospitality or others owned by the Tennysons.
“I appreciate the council’s support. This is the first in many steps, but this is one we have to make to get started with this,” Tennyson said.
Finally, the council approved a change order for phase two of the West Dam project, the need for which was discussed at the previous council meeting.
Because there was overexcavation into the existing embankment of the dam, $9,451 was subtracted from the amount to be given to that contractor, Moss Rock Excavation, and given to the phase three contractor, RCS Construction, as it put back the fill.
Steve Bareis of RESPEC Engineering said it is likely the phase three item for placing embankment materials will run over the estimated cost, however, so the aforementioned money would partially offset that amount.

This story has been edited from the print version to reflect the county commission's actions on Wednesday morning.