No major proposed property tax legislation emanated out of the legislature’s ag committee.

 

The Ag Land Assessment Task Force met recently (11/15) and approved two pieces of legislation to be introduced during the 2020 Legislative Session:

• House Bill Draft 248: To authorize the Secretary of the Department of Revenue to contract with certain entities for purposes of maintaining a database to determine agricultural income value and to specify the mandatory and permissive data of the database;
• House Bill Draft 256: To require certain adjustments to the assessed value of agricultural land if factors impact the land’s productivity and to require those adjustments to be documented.

Neither bill will result in a major shift in property tax burden, which was a concern after a report by South Dakota News Watch in October cited the possibility of property tax reform in ag land resulting in a potential shift.

 

Ag land’s taxable valuation in 2019 produced 42 percent of the state’s taxable valuations with Owner-Occupied at 35 percent and Commercial at 20 percent while the property tax contributions in 2019 were Ag at 27 percent, O-O at 39 percent and Commercial at 29 percent.

 

“Property taxes have gone up on ag land and ag buildings,” S.D. Department of Revenue Property and Special Taxes Division Director Michael Houdyshell said during the task force meeting. “They’ve also gone up on the other classes of property.”

 

For updates on the 2020 legislative session, check the ASBSD Blog.