It cost the state $171,922,177 of state revenue to provide owner-occupied tax relief on the property taxes we pay this year. This hefty sum should be acknowledged in any discussion of additional relief.
Years ago, South Dakota created an Owner-Occupied (OO) classification for homes and began a program of property tax relief. Every year since, the property tax on each owner-occupied home is reduced. The state reimburses school districts for these homeowner tax breaks.
Maybe you didn’t know you are receiving this relief. It should be noted on our tax statements, such as this example for an owner-occupied home with $300,000 taxable value in the Sioux Falls school district: “This tax obligation has been reduced by $945.30 in accordance with South Dakota’s Property Tax Reduction Program begun in 1995.”
How much is your own relief? Your owner-occupied home’s relief equals the difference between your owner-occupied tax and what it would have been if not owner-occupied. Multiply your home’s “taxable value” by the following levy fraction that represents that difference in your school district: Sioux Falls .003151, Harrisburg .003093, Brandon Valley .002709, Tea Area .0027, Dell Rapids .0027, Baltic .002696, Canton .0027, Garretson .003862, Tri Valley .003169, Lennox .002693, West Central .003023, Montrose .002693, Parker .002696, Alcester .003184, Beresford .003284, Centerville .002705, Flandreau .002696.
Homeowners can appreciate this relief the state is providing for them.
Renters, alas, get none of it, even though they pay property tax indirectly through their rents. Any additional tax relief should help renters and, for sure, not further burden them with higher tax on their food and other taxed basic expenses.
Sincerely,
Cathy Brechtelsbauer
Sioux Falls
"It costs the state" is the most backwards cucked way of looking at the fact that we are paying rent to the state for property we own, & which has gone up dramatically since 2019.
Bib, surely you aren't making the case that none of these gov't agencies (particularly public schools) can control their budgets, or that property taxes haven't skyrocketed since 2019.