Colman community leaders recently celebrated the designation of Hillcrest Industrial Park as a certified ready site under South Dakota's Certified Ready Sites program with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Officials from the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Heartland Consumers Power District were on hand for the event.

"We are thrilled to designate Hillcrest Industrial Park as a Certified Ready Site," said GOED's community development director Joe Fiala. "The Certified Ready Sites program is really a great tool that we encourage South Dakota communities to utilize to promote development in their town or city."

The Certified Ready Sites program helps businesses mitigate some of the risks associated with development by providing the most accurate, detailed information about the site available, including accessibility, utilities, infrastructure and other amenities.

Nov. 1 is the deadline for non-profit industrial development corporations to file with county directors of equalization for a property tax exemption for real property for property tax year 2018, payable in 2019.

Up to $750,000 in real property can qualify for the exemption. Click here to read the statute.

The forms to file for this exemption are available at The South Dakota Department of Revenue's property tax forms page .

If your organization has previously filed for this exemption, you need to complete form PT-44 Application for Continuing Tax Exempt Status of a Private Organization.

If you have not previously filed for this exemption, complete form PT-43 Application for Property Tax Exempt Status.

The GOED recommends taking the completed form to the Director of Equalization to get a time-stamped copy to verify timely filing.

For more information, please contact Joe Fiala, Community Development Director, at [email protected] or 605-204-2306.