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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
SD prison task force narrows focus to specific sites
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The evolving story of where a replacement for the South Dakota State Penitentiary could go appears to have some clarity. Structure damage, split trees left behind after storm Project Prison Reset's task force voted Tuesday in support of building a 1,500-1,700-bed facility or facilities at a maximum cost of $600 million. And as far as where to build, the stated preferences are at existing state Department of Corrections facilities or proposed sites in the Mitchell or Worthing areas. A bill to appropriate money to build a new men's prison for a guaranteed maximum price of $825 million had already failed in Pierre in 2025, and the weight of that figure is still felt. 'Just a few months ago, we were asked as legislators to pass $825 million for this project, and we said 'no,' in essence,' Republican Rep. Greg Jamison of Sioux Falls said Tuesday at the task force's meeting in Pierre. Republican Rep. Scott Odenbach of the Spearfish area, alongside Jamison, sits on the task force. The group, launched by Gov. Larry Rhoden following the legislative failure, has already unanimously voted in support of replacing the state penitentiary. Now, they are looking at where… and how. Odenbach made the motion to support building for 1,500-1,700 beds at no more than $600 million. 'That $600 million number is maybe more likely to be palatable to a two-thirds majority of the legislature, and we have to consider that,' Odenbach said. 'So, that's why I've done it that way.' That proposal eventually earned unanimous support among the task force. Both the Worthing- and Mitchell-area sites are near an interstate and relatively close to Sioux Falls. 'I think it's good to provide some direction and criteria that meets what is affordable for South Dakota and for what the people of South Dakota expect from us,' Republican Sen. Chris Karr of Sioux Falls said. 'There's what's ideal, and then there's the reality of what we can afford. I think this is a good starting point. In this motion, it says that the office of the state engineer and their contractors shall develop options.' 'This allows us to at least get that information,' Republican Rep. Jon Hansen of the Dell Rapids area said. 'What's possible within the budget parameters that we're setting now, and then we can get that information and make our decision from there.' And options are all they are right now. No plans were finalized Tuesday night in Pierre, and there will be no shovels digging into dirt on Wednesday. And while a possible path forward has come into focus, the mood among the task force is not totally enthusiastic. 'I'm going to support this motion today because I do think we owe ourselves these answers,' Democratic Rep. Erin Healy of Sioux Falls said. 'I'm nervous about what we're going to find.' 'Yes, I'll support it,' Democratic Sen. Jamie Smith of Sioux Falls said. 'But it's hard to support spending that much money when there's other things I know that we could do that keep people out of prison.' The task force's next meeting is scheduled for July 8. Eventually, the plan is for a special session of the state legislature to learn about the group's recommendations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A look ahead at Day 34 of the 2025 legislative session
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Here's a look at some of the events scheduled at the state Capitol for Monday, March 10, the 34th working day of the 38-day 2025 session of the South Dakota Legislature. Most legislative committees no longer are meeting in this final week of the session's main run, because they finished hearings on bills and resolutions last week. The one exception on Monday is the Joint Committee on Appropriations. The 18 JCA members meet at 10 a.m. CT in room 362 to continue setting state government's budget for the coming fiscal year that starts on July 1 and adjusting the state budget for the current year. They're also scheduled to meet at 8 a.m. CT on Tuesday. Under the Legislature's standard rules, Monday marks the last day for a bill or joint resolution to pass both chambers. It's also the last day for lawmakers to invoke JR 7-7, more commonly known as the smoke-out rule, where a lawmaker with sufficient support can force a committee to release a bill that previously was set aside. Because it's the final week, the two chambers will convene their general floor sessions at various times. On Monday, the Senate is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. CT, while the House of Representatives will gather at 1 p.m. CT. The Senate debate calendar shows one resolution and 15 House bills, including a proposal from Republican Rep. Greg Jamison that would reduce a limit on the annual increases of property tax revenues payable to certain taxing districts, and to subject school districts to a limit on property taxes collected in a year. The House debate calendar shows eight Senate bills. Among them are a proposal from Republican Sen. Amber Hulse and Republican Rep. Jack Kolbeck that would limit annual valuation increases on owner-occupied single-family dwellings and provide an exception for mill rate limitations on taxing districts. Another proposal the House will consider is from Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and a task force of 10 legislators that would reduce the growth in the assessed value of owner-occupied property, limit increases in certain property tax revenues, revise provisions regarding school district excess tax levies, and revise eligibility requirements for a property tax assessment freeze. The Legislature is scheduled to meet through Thursday, the final day of the main run. Tuesday through Thursday are reserved for conference committees that negotiate differences between the two chambers' versions of the same bill they've both passed, and for consideration of the annual state-budget bills and school-tax levies bill. Lawmakers will then take a two-week break and return on Monday, March 31, to consider any vetoes and deal with any remaining unfinished business. So far, Gov. Rhoden hasn't vetoed any bill that the Legislature sent to his desk to become law. As of Sunday morning, the official bill-status report log showed 22 House bills and 27 Senate bills had received final legislative approval and were on the governor's desk awaiting decisions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Property tax relief plans loom over final days of SD legislative session
A January 2025 view of the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota lawmakers have four days left to agree on a property tax relief plan. There are three bills left on the table: House Bill 1235 from Rep. Greg Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, caps local governments' inflationary property tax collection growth at a lower amount year over year. Senate Bill 191 from Sen. Amber Hulse, R-Hot Springs, rolls back assessments for some homeowners and caps assessment growth for all of them. Senate Bill 216 from Gov. Larry Rhoden caps countywide residential assessment growth for five years, caps the amount local governments can increase tax collections based on new construction and growth, exempts some home improvements from affecting assessments, and expands eligibility among disabled and elderly people for relief programs. Legislative tone shifts from helping counties to blaming their spending Legislators – including many who campaigned on the issue – must determine which bill or bills will make it to the governor's desk. They went home Thursday evening for a long weekend and will return Monday to Pierre for the final four days of the legislative session, except for a day in late March to consider the governor's vetoes. 'The best measure with the most relief should make it through,' said House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish. Lawmakers are responding to public calls for relief, largely from non-agricultural property owners. Since 2017, property tax payments have gone up 47% for owner-occupied homes and 36% for commercial property, while rising 3% for agricultural property. Ag land taxes have been held in check by a change from market-based to productivity-based assessments. All three bills are expected to be debated on Monday. Meanwhile, the Legislature passed a resolution Thursday to ensure the body will dig deeper into property tax policies. That bill creates an interim task force to 'identify impactful, substantive measures' to provide significant and lasting tax relief. The task force will include 16 lawmakers, a representative from the Bureau of Finance and Management, and a representative from the Governor's Office. Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, said property tax reform is 'one of the most important priorities' of the legislative session. 'We need to take a look at the whole picture of what's happening,' Karr told lawmakers, 'what forces are driving the property taxes to increase and what some of the mechanisms are that we can look at and consider to provide relief.' Jamison's House Bill 1235 would reduce local taxing districts' annual inflationary budget growth from a 3% cap to a 2.5% cap. In both cases, the inflation rate becomes the cap if it's lower than either percentage. The majority of property taxes — 56% — goes toward public school funding. Around 13% goes to cities, 27% goes to counties and the rest goes to various local entities, according to the state Department of Revenue. The state does not receive property taxes, relying instead on sales taxes. Yvonne Taylor, representing the South Dakota Municipal League, told lawmakers earlier this week that Jamison's legislation is 'much more survivable' for city budgets than the other bills proposed. Counties and schools affected by the legislation, lobbyists said, would face more difficulties to meet obligations without seeking 'opt outs' to generate more taxes. An opt out is a decision by a local governing body to exceed the cap on annual property tax collection growth. Jamison told lawmakers on the Senate Taxation Committee that the legislation would not provide as much property tax relief 'as you want, or the people that I represent want.' But it's enough to send a message to local governments, according to Jamison, that they need to reevaluate their budgets and address the burden on homeowners. 'It's a little bit of a punch in the face to all these taxing districts,' Jamison said. 'No special privileges. But it's not a bloody nose, it's just a bruise.' The committee unanimously agreed to move the legislation to the Senate floor, though some told the lawmaker they didn't believe it would provide enough relief and voted in favor simply to keep the conversation alive. The Senate deferred its debate on the bill to Monday. The governor's bill would be more like a bloody nose to some of the local governments, Jamison told South Dakota Searchlight. That's because the plan could be particularly problematic for high-growth cities, counties and school districts, such as the Sioux Falls metro and the Black Hills areas, by holding down one of the levers that raises tax revenue. Rhoden's bill would limit annual growth based on new construction and home improvements to 2% and apply the same limit to school capital outlay funds. Schools use their capital outlay funds for land, buildings and equipment. School districts with high growth wouldn't be able to take care of their infrastructure needs to accommodate the growing population of students, said Heath Larson, executive director of Associated School Boards of South Dakota, in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight. Rhoden unveils plan to slow property tax increases for five years Lobbyists and officials for cities and counties oppose the bill because it would cut high-growth local government revenues by millions of dollars within a few years and would result in reduced services, they testified. The plan could shift the property tax burden from homeowners onto agricultural and commercial properties in areas of high growth, said State Department of Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell. That's if the value of a county's owner-occupied homes exceed the 3% assessment growth cap set by Rhoden's legislation. But Houdyshell called the proposal the most 'politically possible' of the three options, despite concerns raised. He added that it's 'not perfect policy.' 'This is a feasible path forward that accomplishes a lot of goals we set out to accomplish,' Houdyshell testified. 'It's not an earth-shattering change to the taxes folks are going to pay, but it does provide relief and I think that's the goal the governor is trying to accomplish with this bill.' If Jamison's and Rhoden's proposals both pass, Jamison equated the limitations to counties to a broken neck. Or 'if not a broken neck, a bent one.' Rhoden called the analogy a 'gross overstatement,' saying it won't hamstring counties 'in any form, shape or fashion.' He believes the two bills could complement each other if passed, though he didn't support a proposal to merge them into one package. The House State Affairs Committee endorsed the governor's legislation in a 9-4 vote. The House of Representatives deferred debate on the proposal until Monday. If a lawmaker can earn a trophy for the most opponents to a bill, Hulse joked during Senate Bill 191's committee hearing Wednesday night, then she's likely to take home that honor this session. Senate Bill 191 would roll back owner-occupied residential property valuations to 2020 assessments for those who bought a property prior to November of that year. For those who bought a property after that, the valuation would roll back to the assessment at the time of the purchase. In both cases, future annual valuation increases would be capped at 3% until the property is sold, transferred or significantly renovated. Of the dozen opponents to speak against the bill, the Department of Revenue's Wendy Semmler was the most vehemently opposed. The rollback would remove $16 billion from the assessment rolls, Semmler said, leading to a $42 million loss in local funding for schools. That $42 million would then be the responsibility of the state to make up. Other opponents stressed it would hurt county budgets and could jeopardize South Dakota's AAA bond rating. Semmler said proposed changes to the bill wouldn't help. 'My opposition is that Senate Bill 191 is bad policy and amending it at this stage of the game doesn't save it,' Semmler said. But Hulse believes it's worth attempting to shake up the current property tax system. 'Right now I think our system as it stands is inequitable because you're sitting in your home, you've done nothing to your home, and you're being taxed more,' Hulse said. 'In what other situation do you do nothing and get taxed more? The bill passed out of House State Affairs with a 7-6 vote and is expected to be debated on the House floor Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Property tax relief plans loom over final days of SD legislative session
A January 2025 view of the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota lawmakers have four days left to agree on a property tax relief plan. There are three bills left on the table: House Bill 1235 from Rep. Greg Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, caps local governments' inflationary property tax collection growth at a lower amount year over year. Senate Bill 191 from Sen. Amber Hulse, R-Hot Springs, rolls back assessments for some homeowners and caps assessment growth for all of them. Senate Bill 216 from Gov. Larry Rhoden caps countywide residential assessment growth for five years, caps the amount local governments can increase tax collections based on new construction and growth, exempts some home improvements from affecting assessments, and expands eligibility among disabled and elderly people for relief programs. Legislative tone shifts from helping counties to blaming their spending Legislators – including many who campaigned on the issue – must determine which bill or bills will make it to the governor's desk. They went home Thursday evening for a long weekend and will return Monday to Pierre for the final four days of the legislative session, except for a day in late March to consider the governor's vetoes. 'The best measure with the most relief should make it through,' said House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish. Lawmakers are responding to public calls for relief, largely from non-agricultural property owners. Since 2017, property tax payments have gone up 47% for owner-occupied homes and 36% for commercial property, while rising 3% for agricultural property. Ag land taxes have been held in check by a change from market-based to productivity-based assessments. All three bills are expected to be debated on Monday. Meanwhile, the Legislature passed a resolution Thursday to ensure the body will dig deeper into property tax policies. That bill creates an interim task force to 'identify impactful, substantive measures' to provide significant and lasting tax relief. The task force will include 16 lawmakers, a representative from the Bureau of Finance and Management, and a representative from the Governor's Office. Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, said property tax reform is 'one of the most important priorities' of the legislative session. 'We need to take a look at the whole picture of what's happening,' Karr told lawmakers, 'what forces are driving the property taxes to increase and what some of the mechanisms are that we can look at and consider to provide relief.' Jamison's House Bill 1235 would reduce local taxing districts' annual inflationary budget growth from a 3% cap to a 2.5% cap. In both cases, the inflation rate becomes the cap if it's lower than either percentage. The majority of property taxes — 56% — goes toward public school funding. Around 13% goes to cities, 27% goes to counties and the rest goes to various local entities, according to the state Department of Revenue. The state does not receive property taxes, relying instead on sales taxes. Yvonne Taylor, representing the South Dakota Municipal League, told lawmakers earlier this week that Jamison's legislation is 'much more survivable' for city budgets than the other bills proposed. Counties and schools affected by the legislation, lobbyists said, would face more difficulties to meet obligations without seeking 'opt outs' to generate more taxes. An opt out is a decision by a local governing body to exceed the cap on annual property tax collection growth. Jamison told lawmakers on the Senate Taxation Committee that the legislation would not provide as much property tax relief 'as you want, or the people that I represent want.' But it's enough to send a message to local governments, according to Jamison, that they need to reevaluate their budgets and address the burden on homeowners. 'It's a little bit of a punch in the face to all these taxing districts,' Jamison said. 'No special privileges. But it's not a bloody nose, it's just a bruise.' The committee unanimously agreed to move the legislation to the Senate floor, though some told the lawmaker they didn't believe it would provide enough relief and voted in favor simply to keep the conversation alive. The Senate deferred its debate on the bill to Monday. The governor's bill would be more like a bloody nose to some of the local governments, Jamison told South Dakota Searchlight. That's because the plan could be particularly problematic for high-growth cities, counties and school districts, such as the Sioux Falls metro and the Black Hills areas, by holding down one of the levers that raises tax revenue. Rhoden's bill would limit annual growth based on new construction and home improvements to 2% and apply the same limit to school capital outlay funds. Schools use their capital outlay funds for land, buildings and equipment. School districts with high growth wouldn't be able to take care of their infrastructure needs to accommodate the growing population of students, said Heath Larson, executive director of Associated School Boards of South Dakota, in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight. Rhoden unveils plan to slow property tax increases for five years Lobbyists and officials for cities and counties oppose the bill because it would cut high-growth local government revenues by millions of dollars within a few years and would result in reduced services, they testified. The plan could shift the property tax burden from homeowners onto agricultural and commercial properties in areas of high growth, said State Department of Revenue Secretary Michael Houdyshell. That's if the value of a county's owner-occupied homes exceed the 3% assessment growth cap set by Rhoden's legislation. But Houdyshell called the proposal the most 'politically possible' of the three options, despite concerns raised. He added that it's 'not perfect policy.' 'This is a feasible path forward that accomplishes a lot of goals we set out to accomplish,' Houdyshell testified. 'It's not an earth-shattering change to the taxes folks are going to pay, but it does provide relief and I think that's the goal the governor is trying to accomplish with this bill.' If Jamison's and Rhoden's proposals both pass, Jamison equated the limitations to counties to a broken neck. Or 'if not a broken neck, a bent one.' Rhoden called the analogy a 'gross overstatement,' saying it won't hamstring counties 'in any form, shape or fashion.' He believes the two bills could complement each other if passed, though he didn't support a proposal to merge them into one package. The House State Affairs Committee endorsed the governor's legislation in a 9-4 vote. The House of Representatives deferred debate on the proposal until Monday. If a lawmaker can earn a trophy for the most opponents to a bill, Hulse joked during Senate Bill 191's committee hearing Wednesday night, then she's likely to take home that honor this session. Senate Bill 191 would roll back owner-occupied residential property valuations to 2020 assessments for those who bought a property prior to November of that year. For those who bought a property after that, the valuation would roll back to the assessment at the time of the purchase. In both cases, future annual valuation increases would be capped at 3% until the property is sold, transferred or significantly renovated. Of the dozen opponents to speak against the bill, the Department of Revenue's Wendy Semmler was the most vehemently opposed. The rollback would remove $16 billion from the assessment rolls, Semmler said, leading to a $42 million loss in local funding for schools. That $42 million would then be the responsibility of the state to make up. Other opponents stressed it would hurt county budgets and could jeopardize South Dakota's AAA bond rating. Semmler said proposed changes to the bill wouldn't help. 'My opposition is that Senate Bill 191 is bad policy and amending it at this stage of the game doesn't save it,' Semmler said. But Hulse believes it's worth attempting to shake up the current property tax system. 'Right now I think our system as it stands is inequitable because you're sitting in your home, you've done nothing to your home, and you're being taxed more,' Hulse said. 'In what other situation do you do nothing and get taxed more? The bill passed out of House State Affairs with a 7-6 vote and is expected to be debated on the House floor Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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.
