South Dakota is in a strong financial position going into the new year.
That’s the summary of the state’s annual end of the year financial report.
Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Finance and Management Jim Terwilliger points to the state’s recent triple-A rating and fully funded pension system…
“We balance our budget every year. We truly do it structurally balanced to where we don’t use any gimmicks or accounting changes to balance the budget. We balance it with ongoing revenues covering our ongoing expenses and we take pride in that and we expect to continue to do that in the future.”
Lawmakers are tasked with the challenge balancing the fiscal year 20-18 budget.
During his annual budget address, Governor Dennis Daugaard said the state is seeing lower than expected growth in sales taxes due. He says that’s primarily because of a downturn in the agriculture economy and lower tourism revenue over the last year.