Hey, at least they are trying

Last Thursday we attended a meeting hosted by a group that seeks to abolish property taxes in South Dakota. The group is led by familiar faces—former District 30 Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, her husband, Mike Mueller, who is a frequent face on the political scene, and Matt Smith, who ran for office in District 30 a couple of years ago. All three can safely be labeled conservative Republicans.
What they are trying to achieve is something that knows no party lines. It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat, Republican or Libertarian, if you’re from the Black Hills, Sioux Falls or somewhere in between. We can all agree that property taxes have gotten out of control in this state. At the meeting, Frye-Mueller told of the heartbreak of having senior citizens telling her they were going to have to sell their house because they can no longer afford their property taxes. She also relayed how defeated young people can feel, because they cannot afford a home. For them, the American dream is simply not attainable.
Neither of these situations are good for anybody, and because of that, many legislators went to Pierre earlier this year with the stated goal of doing something to rein in out of control property tax increases. Many ideas were pitched. Many bills were put forth. All of them went down in flames. Well, all of them except for one, which was championed by Gov. Larry Rhoden. That will put a cap on how much property taxes can increase annually statewide for the next five years, but did nothing to solve the problem longterm or provide relief for people who have already watch their property taxes double or triple in only a few years time. Some legislators have now even taking to saying there isn’t anything wrong with property taxes, but rather, counties are spending too much. Huh?
Whether or not you agree with the abolish property tax group’s proposal, at least they are trying something. None that presented are in the legislature, so they are giving up their personal time trying to help their state. That’s commendable. Just as it’s commendable that our District 30 Sen. Amber Hulse, and our Reps. Tim Goodwin and Trish Ladner, also tried to get legislation passed they said would have helped ease the crush of rising property taxes. Ideas are flying everywhere. Maybe there are even too many and things are getting convoluted. But, we appreciate most are recognizing this is a real problem that needs a solution.
More and more states are revolting against property tax. It’s a Boston Tea Party, of sorts. Our neighbors in Wyoming are also gearing up to try to eliminate property taxes. I suspect they will encounter as much resistance as we have. There are departments and people in the state that want the money flowing in, consequences to the public be damned. That’s why it’s so hard to get anything done.
We encourage everyone to keep fighting the good fight. There is a way to replace the property tax revenue with a more spread out, fair tax, and perhaps even one that can be paid mostly be our visitors. The solution is out there. We just have to find it. We appreciate those who are trying.