Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden said he wants to see tailored owner-occupied property tax reform.
About a dozen bills this session seek to reform or lower property taxes in some way.
Rhoden has convened a working group of state lawmakers to work on a proposal to address the rise in owner occupied property taxes.
Rhoden said the group has a working draft that’s evolving after each meeting.
“Rather than take a shotgun approach, that some of the proposals did that affected us statewide,” Rhoden said. “Given the situation we’re in, I feel very confident that we need to take a rifle shot.”
Rhoden said he wants to avoid shifting the burden too much onto agriculture and commercial property taxes. The governor added he wants a narrow bill to address areas that have seen large valuation increases for owner-occupied property—like in Sioux Falls and the Black Hills.
“What we do will be very targeted to provide assistance and relief to people that are getting kicked in the head the hardest on these increased property valuations," Rhoden said.
During the last ten years, the percentage of property tax burden has shifted from agriculture to commercial and owner occupied.
Other changes include capping the increase on assessments, a freeze for elderly residents and raising the sales tax to lower owner-occupied taxes.
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say," said House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach.
He said lawmakers should find a fix to the property taxes this year, then look at the larger issue.
“Or should it be more broad-based, where we look at across the board cuts to government in order to do across the board cuts in property tax and try to address all classes who are, I think, hurting? Not just owner occupied,” Odenbach said.
Lawmakers have until March 14 to pass a proposal this year. That’s when the legislative session ends.