HB 1019 is the perfect companion

Greetings! With the 100th legislative session over for 2025, let’s dispel or update all the gnashing of teeth rumors, shall we?

To start off, South Dakota Public TV is fully funded, thanks to hard work on the part of our appropriations chair Rep. Mike Derby. It was in former Gov. Noem’s budget to defund a major portion of SDPTV. It didn’t happen and wasn’t practical as it shares the same towers as our emergency management personnel which is an essential service. Bottom line, no change.

The libraries were also on the hit list. No, not talking about the books inside the library. The library itself. Some key funding they receive from the state. No change here as well.

We also ended session without laws that would put librarians in jail for checking out certain books. This subject is bizarre and I’m not an expert to dive into the issue but we we ended with no change here as well.

School vouchers. The former governor’s budget had $4 million proposed for low income families to use state tax dollars for parochial schools or for home schooling students. This was also defeated, so no change here.

Property taxes. Yes, Tim, now that’s the one the legislature made progress on, right? Nope. I’m sorry to say that of the 19 property tax bills, there was one that made it to the finish line, SB216, otherwise known as the governor’s bill. In defense of Gov. Rhoden, he did ask for a property tax committee to come up with a property tax proposal and thus was the genesis of Senate Bill 216. In a nut shell this is SB 216:

• It puts a 3 percent cap on owner-occupied homes. It does this by having 3 percent on the amount of taxing districts and school capital outlay budgets. It can increase as a result of new construction. SB216 also increases the maximum income limits for the assessment freeze program to $55,000 for single member homes and $65,000 for multi-member homes. The bill also increases maximum eligible home value to $500,000.

Gov. Rhoden states, “SB216 is a win for South Dakota homeowners. The bill is impactful and workable, and it will certainly buffer any future tax increases.”

Gov. Rhoden also indicated he is working on a companion bill to go alongside SB216.

Well, Gov. Rhoden, HB1019 is the perfect companion bill. Let’s work together this next session and give a 35 percent tax decrease to all South Dakota residents with an owner-occupied home. For those out there who have been in a cave awaiting the end of times, HB1019 is paid for up front. It raises sales tax from 4.2¢ to 5¢, generating $280 million, all going to South Dakota owner-occupied homes. This results in $417 per $100,000 assessments. For example, a $500,000 assessment would equal $2,085 in property tax reduction. That $417 times five = $2,085.

A huge side benefit to this new 5 ¢ sales tax would be the boon to our South Dakota economy. By the way, 5¢ is the same as North Dakota. If the average homeowner has an additional $1,500 to $2,000 to spend, the economy will absolutely explode. My last point is the $15 million tourists who spend $5 billion pay for one-third of the increase. Yes, Gov. Rhoden, HB1019 is the perfect companion bill, giving homeowners the desperately needed property tax relief.