People 5, Town 0

It may have been the ultimate tax protest. The residents of Loyalton, S. Dak., all five of them, got together last week and passed a measure guaranteed to reduce the cost of living in their town. They voted it out of existence. There was nothing impulsive about the move. Loyalton, which reached its peak population of 180 back in 1918, closed its high school in 1945; the grade school went in 1970, and nine years ago the post office shut down. Except for two ramshackle houses and an abandoned hotel, the buildings along Main Street have surrendered to fire, tornadoes and neglect. Loyalton's venerable citizens (average age: 70), who also serve as the town's board, recently realized that they could save $300 apiece annually by disincorporating, since the surrounding county would then assess the town land as agricultural property, at a lower tax rate. Loyalton's residents will also no longer have to pay one another's salaries ($72 a year each) as members of the town board. All agreed it was a practical move, even though Loyaltonian Charles Sylte, 71, described the mood after the vote as "kind of like there is no joy in Mudville." "It sure was a good town," said Edna Oban, 86. "Everyone knew each other."

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