RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA News) – The Rapid City Area Schools were helped by a group making a political point, when a school district building was pulled from the tax delinquency list in a foreclosure process.

School officials say the local conservative group “Citizens For Liberty” learned of $8,500 in unpaid utility taxes between 2014 and 2019 at General Beadle Elementary. They got control of the tax deed and confronted the school board at Monday’s meeting to question the upcoming school bond issue referendum, and whether the school was managing money correctly.

Katy Urban of the school district says a clerical error kept bouncing the tax bill back to the treasurers office, from a special drainage fee the city enacted in 2014.

Urban says that the action taken by “Citizens For Liberty” pointed up a potential problem in a manner that helped the district from facing a real problem over the tax bill, had someone else gotten the General Beadle tax deed.

The Rapid City Area Schools $190 million bond issue election is set for Feb. 25.