Lawmakers face big votes over property tax growth
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — With five working days left in the main run of the 2025 legislative session, it's coming down to crunch time at the state Capitol to find a way to slow the growth of property taxes on owner-occupied residences in South Dakota.
State senators on Thursday afternoon could vote on a plan from Republican Rep. Greg Jamison plan to further restrict spending by local governments.
Meanwhile the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon is scheduled to debate a package from Gov. Larry Rhoden and a task force of 10 lawmakers. Senate Bill 216 would cap assessment growth countywide at and limit spending growth, while also expanding financial limits for people aged 65 and older to have assessments frozen on their owner-occupied homes.
Then there's also a proposal that the House will take up Monday from Republican Sen. Amber Hulse and Republican Rep. Jack Kolbeck, who want to roll back many owner-occupied assessments to 2021 levels — and do it without causing a tax shift to agriculture or commercial properties.
Jamison's approach, House Bill 1235, would reduce the amount of property taxes that a taxing district — including school districts — can collect to 2.5% per year. Currently state law limits the increase to no more than 3%.
The House voted 39-31 to send Jamison's plan to the Senate. On Wednesday, it received the endorsement of the Senate Taxation Committee 6-0, despite opposition from lobbyists for the South Dakota Municipal League, the South Dakota Association of County Commissioners and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota.
The Rhoden-task force proposal, Senate Bill 216, rolled through the Senate a week ago 30-5 and came out of the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday night 9-4. One section limits assessment growth on owner-occupied property for the county as a whole to no more than 3% annually for the next five years, with an exception for new construction.
Another section of SB 216 caps spending growth to no more than 3% annually but allows for an additional 2% for any new construction or changes in circumstances. It also would give all school districts authority for capital outlay levies.
The final sections of SB 216 expand eligibility for people ages 65 and up to qualify for assessment freezes. The current household income limits of $35,000 for single-person households and $45,000 for multi-person households would increase to $55,000 and $65,000. The upper limit for a home's assessed value also would rise to $500,000 from the current $300,000.
The Hulse-Kolbeck proposal, Senate Bill 191, proposes to roll back owner-occupied homes to 2021 assessment levels for people who have been living in the same homes since then. Owner-occupied properties that have changed hands or circumstances since then would be assessed at fair-market value.
Wendy Semmler, director for the state Property Tax Division in the state Department of Revenue, said the result of SB 191 would be a $16 billion reduction in taxable value of owner-occupied property. Semmler said that tax levies would have to be increased to make up the difference and those higher levies would hit harder on people who didn't own their current residences prior to 2021.
SB 191 came out of the Senate 35-0 but barely got out of the House State Affairs Committee 7-6 Wednesday night.
In addition to Revenue being against it, opposition also came from South Dakota Retailers, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, several county directors of equalization, South Dakota Farm Bureau and every other South Dakota agricultural group, South Dakota Association of County Commissioners, South Dakota Towns and Townships and a company official from a financial services firm that advises many local governments on debt issues, who warned it could endanger state government's AAA bond rating.
'You got four days,' Republican Rep. Spencer Gosch told Hulse. 'You'll have the weekend to work with some of the opponents and maybe pull a rabbit out of the hat.'
Republican Rep. Marty Overweg, an agricultural businessman and farmer, voted against both the governor-task force bill and the Hulse-Kolbeck bill because he doesn't trust either one won't push tax burden onto agricultural property.
'I think it's dangerous. I really do think it's dangerous,' Overweg said. 'You want corporate farming in South Dakota, just let taxes go crazy on the property.'
On the other hand the committee's chair, Republican Rep. Scott Odenbach, voted for both. 'I hope one of these measures, the best measure for relief, can make it out of the House,' he said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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