VIEWPOINT | Conservative, not populist, approach needed on property tax reform

Guest column by Joe Kippley, Minnehaha County Commissioner

There are two competing factions in the conversation around property tax reform this legislative session. In one direction are a series of populist reforms that appear to have as much momentum as they do unintended consequences. Standing athwart the populists are conservative ideas rooted in institutional knowledge and a mature understanding of transparent trade-offs in public policy. It could be an allegory for this entire legislative session divided between the populists and the conservatives.

The populists have a long history in the U.S. and in South Dakota, but the sentiment can be summed up by late-19^th Century populist and frequent Democratic Party candidate for president William Jennings Bryan who said, “The people of Nebraska are for free silver and I am for free silver. I will look up the arguments later.”

Property tax rollbacks pick up steam at South Dakota Capitol

Senate Bill 216 is looking to reform assessed values because people are mad about assessed values, and we’ll look up the arguments later. There is a populist impulse to look for a direct “fix” to a series of constituent complaints about the yellow piece of paper that arrives in the mail this time of year from the County Equalization office. The assessments seem too high, so limitingthe assessments seems like a common-sense approach that will “solve” the issue.