Pressure is already mounting on South Dakota legislators to avoid a scheduled tax increase that’s still years down the road.

When South Dakota’s sales tax rate rolls back from 4.5 percent to 4.2 percent on July 1 — pending the signature of Gov. Kristi Noem — the clock will begin counting down toward what amounts to a tax increase.

That’s because the historic cut to the state sales tax rate made by the House and Senate last week included a built-in expiration date that will revert the sales tax rate back to 4.5 percent in 2027.

That fine print was the lynchpin in the legislation that came from, at-times tense, negotiations between the House and Senate around a series of tax cut proposals offered as this year’s Legislative session came to a close.

And though House Republicans agreed to the sunset in the final hours of the session, they see it as a temporary concession.

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