By Aberdeen Insider - October 23, 2025 in CITY OF ABERDEEN
ORDINANCE NO. 25-10-03
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ABERDEEN CITY CODE
REGARDING ANNEXATION OF THE BROWN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Aberdeen is charged with providing for the health, safety, and property of its citizens, and does so through adoption of comprehensive zoning regulations and other ordinances codified in the Aberdeen City Code; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of an annexation agreement with Brown County regarding the Brown County Fairgrounds requires amendment of the Aberdeen City Code to address uses of the municipal sales and use tax revenue collected from activities at the fairgrounds at Sec. 50-79 of Chapter 50 – TAXATION, the continued regulatory authority in the County over its fairgrounds at Chapter 1 – GENERAL PROVISIONS, and amending the definitions at Section 60-1 of the Zoning ordinance at Chapter 60 – ZONING to include “fairgrounds”; and
WHEREAS, Section 60-286 provides that no amendment, supplement, or change to the Zoning ordinance shall become effective unless it shall have been proposed by, or shall first have been submitted to, the planning and zoning commission for review and recommendation; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Sec. 60-286, the City of Aberdeen planning and zoning commission held a public hearing on September 30, 2025, upon notice properly given, to study and report on the proposed amendment to the Zoning ordinance, and thereafter approved and recommended adoption of the amendment by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the following amendment will benefit the health, safety, and property of its citizens.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF ABERDEEN, SD, THAT THE FOLLOWING CHANGES AND ADDITIONS SHALL BE MADE TO THE ABERDEEN CITY CODE:
- Sec. 50-79 of Chapter 50 – TAXATION is hereby amended with underline indicating text to be added and strikethrough indicating text to be deleted and the remainder to be left unaffected:
Sec. 50-79. Use of revenue.
(a) Any revenue received under section 50-76 that exceeds the amount that would have been received under section 50-76, if the rate of tax in such section were one percent, may be used only for capital improvements involving the construction and financing of public improvements.
(1) The term “construction and financing”, as used in this section, shall include land acquisition, architectural and engineering fees, construction costs, debt retirement, lease purchase agreements, street maintenance, specialized equipment, the transfer to the special 911 fund authorized by SDCL 34-45-12, the purchasing of firefighting vehicles, and public safety and health equipment and chemicals.
(2) The term “public improvements”, as used in this section, shall include infrastructure, including rehabilitation and reconstruction of streets, and buildings either new or modified, improvements owned by the city, joint county-municipal improvements, joint school district-municipal improvements as authorized by SDCL chapter 6-3, and improvements constructed pursuant to a joint powers agreement with the state and any state institute of higher learning.
These expenditures may be financed through a sale-leaseback agreement. The city council may, by resolution passed by at least a two-thirds majority, transfer amounts to other funds for projects specified in the resolution.
(b) Any revenue received under section 50-77 in excess of the rate established in section 50-76 may be used only for the purposes allowable under SDCL 10-52A-2.
(c) Any revenue received which is determined by the city finance officer to be derived from sales and services at the fairgrounds, a promotional attraction of the city, shall be remitted to the county auditor within 45 days of receipt of a completed request submitted by the county auditor on forms prescribed by the city finance officer. Revenues remitted to the county auditor may be used only for the purposes described at subsections (a) and (b) above.
- Sec. 60-1 of Chapter 6 – ZONING is hereby amended with underline indicating text to be added and strikethrough indicating text to be deleted and the remainder to be left unaffected:
Sec. 60-1. Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
. . .
Fairgrounds means the land area owned by the county within the corporate limits of the city designated by the county as the “Brown County Fairgrounds” which land area shall be maintained, managed, and controlled by the board of county commissioners and their successors in office, for use of the public primarily as a county fairgrounds, wherein generally specified displays of farm produce, livestock and crafts could be exhibited, and 4-H clubs and home extension work could be demonstrated. Provision is also made for the entertainment of the public with amusements of various kinds.
. . .
- A new section is hereby added to Chapter 1 – GENERAL PROVISIONS as follows:
Sec. 1-18. Fairgrounds exempted from operation of ordinances.
The county-owned fairgrounds property within the corporate limits of the city is hereby exempted from the operation and effect of the ordinances of the city.
- Severability. The provisions of this ordinance are severable. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
- Effective Date. The City Finance Officer shall cause this ordinance to be published in the official newspaper in clean text with all deletions and additions incorporated therein and footnotes omitted. This ordinance shall become effective twenty (20) days after the completed publication unless the referendum is invoked.
/s/ Travis Schaunaman, Mayor, ATTEST: /s/ Jordan McQuillen, Finance Officer
Public Hearing: September 30, 2025; October 6, 2025, First Reading: October 6, 2025, Second Reading: October 20, 2025, Final Adoption: October 20, 2025, Published: October 23, 2025, Effective Date: November 12, 2023
Published once on October 23, 2025, at the total approximate cost of $69.07 and may be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.aberdeeninsider.com