How Groton is run
Groton spent $3.1 million in the year to December 31, 2024, about $2,273 per resident. (A Census Bureau estimate.)
What stands out about how Groton is run
Read from the town’s budget, meetings and records. The page puts what stands out first.
About $2,273 per resident a year, or $6.23 a day
The biggest line: water & other utilities, at 30% of spending.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Groton didn’t report all of its 2024 figures to the Census Bureau, so most of these numbers are the Bureau’s estimates.
Groton Area School District 06-6
Groton’s K–12 school district, shared with Andover, Bates, Bristol, Bristol, Butler and more. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $12,329 per pupil, $7,181 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.
Per resident, spending is up 10% since 2022
Spending per resident, by fiscal year. Prices rose too: about 4% a year in 2022–2024.
Spending per resident by year
full-time in 2025, up from 12 in 2022.
* A Census Bureau estimate for that year (the town didn’t report most of its figures).
Who’s in charge in Groton
Local officials aren’t in the public records we use for Groton yet. Neighbors can add them.
One full-time town employee for every 98 residents
On the payroll in March 2025.
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.
The typical homeowner pays $2,631 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 1.38% 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 Groton’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.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Groton.
- 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 Groton’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 Groton 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 Groton, 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.