How Clear Lake is run
Clear Lake spent $2.1 million in the year to December 31, 2022, about $1,660 per resident. (A Census Bureau estimate.)
What stands out about how Clear Lake is run
Read from the town’s budget, meetings and records. The page puts what stands out first.
About $1,660 per resident a year, or $4.55 a day
The biggest line: sewer & trash, at 23% of spending.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Clear Lake didn’t report all of its 2022 figures to the Census Bureau, so most of these numbers are the Bureau’s estimates.
The typical homeowner pays $1,902 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 1.17% of the home’s value, vs 1.06% across South Dakota.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Clear Lake’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate. In a town this small the estimate has a wide margin.
Deuel School District 19-4
Clear Lake’s K–12 school district, shared with Altamont, Altamont, Antelope Valley, Brandt, Clear Lake and more. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $13,257 per pupil, $7,710 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
South Dakota districts overall: 50% local, 31% state, 19% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Who’s in charge in Clear Lake
Local officials aren’t in the public records we use for Clear Lake yet. Neighbors can add them.
One full-time town employee for every 252 residents
On the payroll in March 2022.
By department full-time, plus part-time
Pay is March payroll times twelve, so it’s approximate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Clear Lake.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilLocal officials aren’t on record yet.
- 2South Dakota HouseState representatives
- 3South Dakota SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of South Dakota
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Clear Lake’s government
Numbers and hours come from neighbors and the town’s own site (the Handbook). A new one goes live once two neighbors confirm it.
Questions about how Clear Lake is run?
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (for Clear Lake, mostly the Bureau’s estimates). School district: Census school finance survey. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. Representatives: Open States, the Census and congress-legislators.