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Property tax payments due Oct. 15
Second half 2018 real estate property taxes are due on Monday, Oct. 15. Most agricultural property and mobile home taxes are due Nov. 15. Check your tax statements for the official due date on your properties.
Payments for Lyon County properties can be dropped off at the Auditor/Treasurer's office on the 2nd floor of the Lyon County Government Center at 607 W. Main St. in Marshall during business hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For faster service bring or send your tax statement stub or write the parcel number on your check.
You may also place payment in the drop box near the parking lot behind the Government Center off South 7th Street. The drop box allows you to provide payment after hours, avoid lines, and to save on postage.
If you prefer to pay by mail, your envelope must be postmarked Oct. 15 or before, or Minnesota statute requires a penalty be imposed. Mail is currently postmarked in the Twin Cities, not locally. The postmark date is important -- mail early.
Credit and debit card payments are available on the County website at www.lyonco.org/taxstmt or in person at the Auditor/Treasurer's office. Card users will be charged a convenience fee by the vendor.
Lyon County also offers a direct payment plan for property taxes. Sign up now for use of the plan for 2019 and beyond. Upon completion and submission of the authorization form found on the Lyon County website, the Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer's Office will automatically deduct your tax payment from your account on the applicable property tax due date. Additional information and a signup form are online at www.lyonco.org/tax-information.
Read for the Record needs volunteers
Jumpstart's Read for the Record is an annual reading celebration that highlights the need for quality early education in America by mobilizing adults and children to set a record for the largest shared reading experience. United Way of Southwest Minnesota coordinates this event throughout southwest Minnesota in schools, childcare centers and libraries in the counties of Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Yellow Medicine, and portions of Cottonwood, Lac qui Parle, Nobles and Redwood.
Volunteer readers are currently needed throughout our service area for this year's event on Oct. 25. The commitment is approximately 30 minutes and includes interacting and reading the book to the class and/or group. This year's book selection, "Maybe Something Beautiful," by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, and illustrated by Rafael López, celebrates the magic that can happen when a community comes together to create something beautiful and bring about change. All materials and books are provided by UWSWMN and donated to the sites following.
Volunteers cansign up on Get Connected; click this link: http://volunteer.unitedwayswmn.org/agency/detail/?agency_id=31964. Be sure to click "see more needs." When you've found the location that you'd like to read at, select "Respond" in the right corner of the screen next to the title of the need. Then verify the information on the screen and add any notes (if applicable). You will get a confirmation email from the system.
Questions regarding Read for the Record and signing up on Get Connected can be directed to Sarah Kicmal at Sarah.Kicmal@UnitedWaySWMN.org or at 507-929-2273.
Free homecoming tailgate event
The Lyon County Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is hosting a free tailgate party 12:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday at Justice Park in Marshall. Join friends and neighbors immediately after the homecoming parade for free burgers with all the fixings, chips, cake, and cotton candy. Meet state and local candidates including House candidates Tom Wyatt-Yerka, Maxwell Kaufman, and Cheniqua Johnson, as well as State Auditor candidate Julie Blaha. Food served until gone; freewill donations accepted.
For more information contact the Lyon County DFL at lyoncountymndfl@gmail.org.
Lyon County Historical Society seeking board members
The Lyon County Historical Society is currently seeking volunteers to fill seats on the board of directors to begin Jan. 1, 2019. The Lyon County Historical Society is governed by a nine-member board and meets the 3rd Wednesday every other month. The application is available at the Lyon County Museum, by email: director@lyoncomuseum.org, and on the museum's website: www.lyoncomuseum.org/board-of-directors-application. For questions or for more information, contact Executive Director Jennifer Andries at 507-537-6580.
Minnesotans have third gender option for driver's license
ST. PAUL (AP) -- Minnesotans have another gender option when applying for a driver's license or renewing an old one.
Besides the usual male or female, applicants can now check "X" if they don't want to be identified as a man or woman. The unannounced option began Monday on the first day the state began accepting applications for the new Real ID, which has more stringent requirements.
The state Driver and Vehicle Services division said applicants don't need to provide any documentation if they want to mark "X" for gender. The agency said the third gender option was a business decision to "better serve all Minnesotans."