Latest news with #SenateBill216
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inside KELOLAND: Property taxes, youth art competition
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Rising property taxes were a topic discussed extensively during the 2025 South Dakota Legislative Session. On Thursday, Gov. Larry Rhoden signed a bill aimed at addressing the rising burden some South Dakota homeowners are seeing. Senate Bill 216 calls for capping total growth of assessed values for existing owner-occupied homes, and limits school districts to annual increases of no more than 3% from property taxes per year. During the session Lawmakers also approved a Concurrent Resolution calling for a summer study to come up with a long-term solution. To get a better idea of what homeowners and home buyers are experiencing KELOLAND News sat down with members of the REALTOR® Association of the Sioux Empire (RASE). A local non-profit is putting out a call to young artists, all focused on promoting a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle. Angela Kennecke joined Inside KELOLAND to talk about Emily's Hope Youth Art Competition. Kennecke also talked about the launch of Emily's Hope Youth Empowerment Club and a recent trip to Washington DC with two members of Emily's Hope Youth Prevention Coalition. A Brookings artist is sharing the inspiration behind her work: the South Dakota landscapes. Karen Kinder talks about her process and her work currently on display in Sioux Falls. A Sioux Falls photographer is using artificial intelligence to re-imagine portraits, blending traditional photography with artistic vision. Rod Evans uses multiple image generation software programs for what he calls a FUZE process, with AI creating backgrounds, props, and even clothing. The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks says construction for phase two of the expansion of the Outdoor Campus in Sioux Falls is set to begin. It will double the size of the campus by adding a new indoor archery range with 12 lanes and a shooting loft to simulate a deer stand. Springlike weather this past week was good news for golfers. All three of Sioux Falls' public courses were open for play for a few days. Mid-March isn't the earliest people have played on the city courses, but this soft opening is still a treat for golfers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate OKs limiting growth of owner-occupied values
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden and a band of 10 lawmakers can claim a victory today in trying to hold down the rapid rise of assessed values for owner-occupied housing in some parts of South Dakota. State senators on Tuesday afternoon agreed 29-6 with the House on Senate Bill 216. Appropriators reject Noem's $3.6 million cut for SDPB For the next five years, it calls for capping total growth of assessed values for existing owner-occupied homes in a county at 3% per year and limits school districts to annual increases of no more than 3% from property taxes per year. SB 216 also expands eligibility for owner-occupied assessment freezes for people age 65 and older. Single-person households will be allowed to have income up to $55,000 per year and multi-person households up to $65,000 per year. Those are increases from the current $35,000 and $45,000. The assessed value of the owner-occupied home qualifying for the assessment freeze will go up to $500,000 from the current $300,000. The initial proposal resulted from work by the governor and a group of legislators. It was amended during its first trip through the Senate. Then it was further amended Monday evening in a dramatic House debate. The Senate could have decided to not accept the House version and instead send it to a conference committee for more negotiation. But Republican Sen. Sue Peterson, who had served on the work group, asked the Senate to accept the House version. She recalled that Rhoden had called for short-term reform and long-term relief. 'So this is part of that long game,' she said. How They Voted Yes (29) — Beal, Blanc, Carley, Crabtree, Davis, Deibert, Duhamel, Foster, Howard, Hulse, K. Jensen, S. Kolbeck, Lapka, Larson, Marty, Mehlhaff, Miskimins, Otten, Perry, S. Peterson, Reed, Rohl, Sauder, Schoenfish, Smith, Vilhauer, Voight, Wheeler, Zikmund. No (6) — Grove, Hohn, Karr, Nelson, Pischke, Voita. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House votes to slow growth of owner-occupied values
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota House of Representatives tried once, fell short, came back from a closed-door caucus with a new compromise, and then tried again. That was the path to agreement on Monday on Senate Bill 216 that the governor and a group of 10 lawmakers put together. They say it's supposed to help bring property taxes under more control for tens of thousands of home owners during the next five years. Kitchen remodel underway at Ronald McDonald House The 53-16 tally sends SB 216 back to the Senate for a decision whether to accept the House compromise version. The Senate could act as early as Tuesday. The House had voted earlier Monday afternoon on SB 216. Needing 36 yeas to pass, the vote-board showed 36-33, but Republican Rep. Bethany Soye changed to a nay, leaving it one vote short. That led to a compromise by Gov. Larry Rhoden. The legislation originally would have allowed counties to capture up to 2% of new owner-occupied assessments. The governor agreed to 3% of new owner-occupied assessments. Republican Rep. Leslie Heinemann explained the change. That was followed by a bit of parliamentary scuffle, where House Speaker Jon Hansen initially ruled that the amendment failed on a voice vote, only to correct himself when a majority of 36 subsequently stood in support of the amendment. Heinemann acknowledged that he had originally felt 'queasy' about a key provision that caps growth of existing owner-occupied assessments at 3% in a county. But he drew a distinction between the governor's approach and another bill that sought to roll back owner-occupied assessments to 2021 levels. 'It would be across the county, rather than individual owners,' Heinemann said. Republican Rep. Greg Jamison voted nay the first time. During reconsideration, Jamison told House members that he appreciated the governor and his staff making an adjustment to allow an additional 1% of new growth. 'Having something seems to be the right place to be,' Jamison said. Jamison meanwhile saw his 2.5% budget cap die on Monday afternoon in the Senate, while the Hulse-Kolbeck proposal to roll back owner-occupied assessment was gutted and then killed in the House. That left only the governor's proposal. Jamison and Soye were among the 18 Republicans who changed to yeas the second vote. The chamber's five Democrats present Monday voted nay both times, as did 11 Republicans. One of the two-time nays was Republican Rep. Liz May. 'We've had summer study, summer study, summer study,' May said. 'I just can't understand how all of us cannot get this figured out.' May made reference to Rhoden's explanation that SB 216 was 'a rifle shot.' 'Rifle shot? Rifle shot for who?' she asked. She noted, 'The only thing we haven't studied is cut spending.' May also suggested that 'a fourth lane' of a new tax might be considered, but she didn't spell out what that might be. 'But I know one thing — if anybody thinks this is going to fix it, it's not.' May praised and thanked Republican Rep. Trish Ladner, who's been trying for years to find a way to deal with rising assessments that greatly accelerated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in places such as the Black Hills and the Sioux Falls area. 'She wasn't looking for a rifle shot. She was looking for a solution,' May said about Ladner. 'Everybody put a lot of thought in this. We just didn't get across the finish line.' Ladner was one of the 10 legislators who worked with Rhoden on the legislation She saw the challenge somewhat differently than May did. The way to eat an elephant, according to Ladner, is one bite at a time. 'I really believe this is a good first bite,' Ladner said. Heinemann meanwhile responded to May's claim that local government spending wasn't being considered. 'It is a shot over the bow,' he said. 'It's a clear message. I hope everyone hears that.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers push bill to help control high rent prices in New Mexico
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexicans are paying more money in rent year after year, now lawmakers are looking at a big idea that could give cities back the power to intervene and control those price increases. Story continues below Traffic: Four people hospitalized after crash involving Roswell police officer Don't Miss: What the NM Gas Company found at Gene Hackman's home Video: NMSP officer arrested on drunk driving charges Investigation: Key ringleader in DWI scheme allowed to leave the country Charles Castro has been living in a Rio Rancho rental home for the last three years alongside his two sons. and his last lease renewal saw his monthly rent jump from $1,635 to $1,875. 'It's less than three years and I got hit with over a 200 dollar increase, that's outrageous,' said Castro. 'Right now I'm hoping to get a promotion, I'm hoping to get a better job that will pay more so that I can feel more at ease and raising these two boys.' Unaffordable rent increases are what Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque) now said need to be reigned in. 'If the costs continue to go up even 50, 60 dollars that may mean that they can't afford one of the other important needs right for living,' said Lopez. Senate Bill 216 would remove the 1990's 1990s-era law on New Mexico's books that prohibits local governments from applying rent control on rental companies and landlords. Lopez said the rent hikes have gotten worse with large rental companies buying out homes and apartments. 'You have entities that come from out of state, purchase then you see suddenly an increase in cost,' said Lopez. The rent control bill has failed in previous sessions, Lopez said that while opponents say it could discourage developers from investing, she thinks rent control would help a larger group of people already living here. 'It actually has helped to stabilize, especially for that contingent of persons who are living on the brink who need some stability,' said Lopez. The bill has already passed the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and now it's on its way to the Judiciary Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
