The Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday and will take public comment at the Kessler’s Champions Club on the Northern State University campus.
The agenda for Wednesday includes breakout discussions among task force members about the relationship between property taxes and funding for schools, the state government, and municipalities.
The task force is looking into government spending cuts as a potential way to reduce property tax burdens. The group is also considering a 0.5 percent optional county-level sales tax to offset participating counties’ property taxes on owner-occupied homes, as well as a new 1% state sales tax dedicated to education funding.
The 1% tax would apply to the majority of products and services that are currently exempt from sales taxes, and it would be added to the existing 4.2% state sales tax rate for other transactions.
Members of Abolish Property Taxes South Dakota presented a transaction tax to the group at its Rapid City meeting last month. The proposal seeks to replace property taxes by imposing a flat $1.50 tax on transactions of $15 or more and a 10% tax on smaller transactions.
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden’s proposal to slow property tax increases through a variety of reforms, including a five-year, county-wide 3% cap on growth in owner-occupied home assessments. The new law took effect on July 1.
