Attorney General Jackley Releases Final Ballot Explanation for Proposed 2026 Initiated Constitutional Amendment on Property Taxes
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has released the final ballot explanation for a proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment submitted by sponsors that would repeal property taxes in South Dakota and replace them with a “retail transaction” tax. The proposed amendment would be on the 2026 general election ballot if 35,017 valid petition signatures are collected.
Attorney General Jackley takes no position on any such proposal for purposes of the ballot explanation. As required by law, he has provided a fair and neutral explanation on the initiated Constitutional Amendment to help assist the voters as required by state law. The sponsor of the proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment is Abolish Property Taxes SD, a Statewide Ballot Question Committee formed by Julie Frye-Mueller, Matt Smith, and Mike Mueller.
This proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment would repeal the South Dakota’s property tax scheme set forth in the Constitution and replaces it with a tax “on each retail transaction.” For each “retail transaction” of $15 or more, a flat tax of $1.50 is assessed. For each “retail transaction” less than $15, a 10% tax is assessed.
The Attorney General’s explanation was finalized after a review of all the comments received during the 10-day comment period on the Attorney General’s draft explanation. A total of 229 comments were received by the deadline.
Language for the final initiated ballot measure explanation can be found here.
Ballot Explanation Comments can be found here.
For more information regarding ballot measures, please visit the Secretary of State’s website.
truly regressive in the worst ways.
How so? Please explain.
People with the means to buy a truck full of food and supplies in one trip to Sam’s Club or Costco will pay less tax than the people who can only purchase what they can carry home from the store .
If you own a large capacity vehicle and and can spend a few thousand dollars in one shopping trip, you will pay only $1.50 tax on the entire load. You can buy a year’s supply of paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, non-perishable food items, and just pile them up in your basement. You can fill your freezer with a year’s supply of frozen pizza, butter, etc.
The people who live paycheck to paycheck, rely on public transportation, and reside in apartments with limited storage space will pay that $1.50 tax every few days..
Good take. grudznick likes it when people have take.
You’ve turned in to a parody of yourself.
Goats!
Property owners pay property taxes for the roads renters drive on. They pay property taxes to pay for schools for people with kids, so they can go to school. Even when the property owner has no children. Property owners pay taxes for the libraries renters use, pay for the police and fire departments that protect renters. The owner of rental properties add that property tax onto a renters amount they charge to rent a home. When property taxes go up, the rent goes up. You as a renter, are paying some of those property taxes. Non-property owners use the the roads, parks, playgrounds, community centers, walking paths, trails and community amenities. Property taxes help fund public transportation. A person buying a “truck load” of groceries will still have to pay the state sales tax on all groceries and the $1.50 flat tax. Just because a person owns property, and has a mortgage, does not mean that they are not living paycheck to paycheck, when the average property tax bill is $200 a month. If a property owner falls on hard times and cannot pay property taxes, they will take their home or force them to sell for the unpaid property taxes and they are then homeless. It is only fair that everyone pays their fair share of taxes for all the community amenities they use every day.
There’s no way the math works out on this. Say goodbye to county governments and say hello to a very much reduced City government. How will county bridges be built? How will county law-enforcement function? How will schools be funded? Or are we eliminating those too?
Are there any other states that have replaced property tax with this $1.50 scheme? No, and for good reason. The people behind us are mentally unhealthy.
Put forth stupid initiatives, get piss pour results.
Nobody can deny, however, and presumably, that Ms. Frye-Mueller’s sister is very pretty and probably the brains behind this because of the rope-a-dope the legislatures gave the Muellers in general.
What’s with you objectifying women all the time? Creepy old man.
no gravy taters for you
This is a bad idea. Early estimates – my own- suggest this may generate between 600M and 700M in revenue. SD collected 1.6B in property taxes in 2023. Plus, for a group that claims to be conservative, this proposal sure centralizes a lot. No 2% for the locals? At a top rate of 1.50, it’s unlikely to change habits a great deal unless people go to the grocery store multiple times a day. Local governments already do a lot with little, especially small towns. Say good bye to road maintenance, snow removal, sidewalk repair, new parks, law enforcement officers, etc.
Many will go to a Costco in Minnesota where there is no tax on food and clothing and load up. While there probably do other shopping too.
Visited with a grocer and since we in South Dakota are at the end of the distribution line when the trucks come out of the Twin Cities they get less to choose from as far as availability from their wholesaler. Closer to the Twin Cities and especially in the nicer suburbs will get the Costco stores will offer a wider selection and more upscale selection in wines and cheeses for example than like St. Cloud. Overall better selection or items that qualify as being tax free and better prices too if one is already planning a trip. Minnesota has not taxed groceries and clothing for a long time. South Dakota is one of the few states left that still hangs on to such a regressive tax.
Why does South Dakota tax food and clothing?
Because in South Dakota we have socialism for the wealthy or RSAs Republican Socialists of America where the poor, working poor and middle class support the wealthy who are the job creators. Action and measures are put in place by our legislature so we know our place.
Like Rhoden’s plan to use an increased sales tax to offset property tax in counties with larger populations?
because the wealthy pay higher prices for those items. At the Empire Mall, a pair of jeans will cost anywhere from $30-$600. Those same jeans can be purchased 2nd hand in a thrift store like Goodwill or Savers for $10-15.
6% of $10 is $0.60. 6% of $100 is $6.00.
The poor pay a sales tax of 60 cents, the rich pay a sales tax of 6 dollars. Same pair of jeans, by the way.
Likewise, Mac and cheese is $1.48 at Walmart, Serves 5. the Family Platter of Johnny Carino’s ‘ Fettucini Alfredo is $48.98. The poor pay a sales tax of almost 9 cents. The rich pay a sales tax of almost 3 bucks. For pasta and white sauce. Of course the box of mac and cheese requires the added cost of some milk and butter, but the rich have to thrown in a tip of 15-20%, so it’s a wash I think.
The way this state’s property tax system works, is the tradeoff we make for not having a STATE INCOME TAX – not some bogus made-up red herring sales tax fake replacement.
Knock the legs out from under the property tax system and a state income tax will be the only answer, not a sales tax. Guaranteed.
South Dakota can take pride in our annual balanced budgets, and look down our noses at the debt-ridden blue states. A stupid plan like this will make us into a low-revenue red-state massive debt hole, and ensure that our pockets of poverty become a statewide fact.
Those Blue donor states subsidize red welfare states like South Dakota annually. If you really want to take pride then take action to make sure South Dakota can support itself and only gets back what it pays into the federal government unless there is a disaster.
Don’t forget that a large amount of the federal funding that flows into our state is to support national defense and tribal obligations.
Now, go look at all the infrastructure projects over the last 5 years that were funded by the feds. Water alone was about a billion dollars. Roads, bridges, sewer, and much more is spent in SD. Even more the years when Biden put together that huge infrastructure bill. Thanks Biden!
That billion dollars for water projects was SD alone. Go ask Aberdeen what they think about those Biden dollars if they are even willing to admit he was the reason they can now drink their water.
If I understand the SD sales tax system correctly, food for humans is taxable but feed for animals is not subject to sales tax. Is that right?
You would be correct. The same group that doesn’t want any economic growth because those companies would be getting “our hard earned tax dollars” are many of the same people who get a VERY large check from the government in farming subsidies. Also while they’re not paying sales tax on much of what they’re purchasing. Not saying farming subsidies are bad. Because they’re not. But this group can’t have it both ways.
Wait..,so ranchers don’t pay sales tax on feed for cattle, but families are taxed on food for their children?
The sales tax is on retail sales, meaning sales to the end consumer. Manufacturers don’t pay sales tax on the raw materials used to make their products. For farmers and ranchers, feed for their cattle is an input cost. The meat you buy is the final product.
Livestock feed is a business expense. Of course it isn’t taxed like non-business items are.
Trump is now threatening Nigeria Your Party has completely come off the rails
Good for Trump. Lots of sucksrs have sent their life savings to Nigeria.
Trump’s drumming up Christian Nationalist outrage over his charge of Christian persecution in Nigeria. Rather than import white Afrikaaners faster, he wants to rattle sabers and such. I did na zi that coming.
OK Larry, now go take your medication.
Larry? Larry who?
How is this better than a sales tax increase? Wouldn’t a sales tax change be easier to implement AND be more equitable?
Someone make it make sense.
Sales tax is regressive. Income tax is progressive and is THE most equitable done properly.
No one should pay property tax on owner-occupied housing.
Food, housing, and clothing should not be taxed.