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In case you hadn’t heard about the Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force meeting today, there are a LOT of proposals to raise taxes and create new taxes to offset property taxes. In case you’re looking for a list of proposals that they’re going to be discussing today:

Tax Committee Proposals by Pat Powers

Some of these proposals are kind of off the wall, such as Rep. John Hughes’ proposal to tax rodeo services, mini storage, and water.  What? He wants to tax water? What’s next? Is he going to try to tax air?

Arguably, the person who is proposing more taxes than anyone is Senator Taffy Howard, another water taxer, as you can read in her two proposals for the committee. Just noting one of them:

Proposal V2: Howard

• Reduces, for owner-occupied property, the school district general fund special education fund, and capital outlay fund mill levies to zero, for owner-occupied property
• Increases state sales tax from 4.2% to 4.5%, which will generate $105.3 million
• Increases contractor’s excise tax from 2.0% to 2.25%,which will generate $27.4 million
• Increases the wholesale alcohol excise tax from 2% to 4%, which will generate $3.2 million
• Increases alcohol beverage excise taxes by 25%, which will generate $2.3 million
• Implements a new tax on vaping at 40%, which will generate $8.3 million
• Increases a tobacco products excise tax from 35% to 40%, which will generate $1.7 million
• Increases the tax mill rate on cigarettes from 76.5 to 101.5, which will generate $9.0 million
• Utilizes 33% of the future fund revenues for property tax reduction, which will equal $8.0 million
• Increases the tourism tax from 1.5% to 4%, which will generate $29.2 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for advertising services, which will generate $41.3 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for radio and television broadcasting, which will generate $7.2 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for services performed for rodeos, which will generate $1.5 million
• Applies sales tax to mini storage, which will generate $1.5 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for the supply of bulk water, which will generate $7.7 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for membership fees to organizations, which will generate $9.3 million
• Removes the sales tax exemption for social services and credit counseling services, which will generate $12.0 million
• Removes the tax credit to insurance companies for giving money to educational scholarships, which will generate $5.0 million
• Reduces general fund expenditures by 5.07%

So, Taffy wants sales taxes to skyrocket, to tax water & rodeos, social services such as adoption services, vocational rehabilitation, and support for the elderly? And to tax memberships for service clubs and organizations?

I don’t even want to say “good luck” sarcastically. We will see how this goes.

The Association of National Advertisers through their lobbyist, former State Senator Deb Peters, has sent a letter to the Comprehensive Property Task Force expressing the group’s strong opposition to the Task Force’s proposal to tax advertising services (My emphasis):

October 22, 2025

Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force
Room 414 – State Capitol
Pierre, South Dakota 57501

Dear President Carr, Speaker Hansen, and Members of the Property Tax Task Force,

I hope this letter finds you well. I know most of you and I thank you for your continued service to the state of South Dakota. For the handful of the committee members that I have not yet met, my name is Deb Peters and I have extensive experience in state tax law. I’m a former South Dakota State Senator, past President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and past President of the Streamline Sales Tax Governing Board. I’m writing to you on behalf of the Association of National Advertisers to express our strong opposition to your proposal to tax advertising services.

I spent many years in your shoes where I too worked to lower property taxes in South Dakota. However, the proposals which strip the sales tax exemption on advertising services in order to reduce the property tax are simply shifting the tax burden from property owners to all South Dakota families and businesses with a regressive tax.

Research shows that advertising taxes harm local businesses and consumers more than the corporations they seek to impact. A study commissioned by Deloitte found that France’s digital advertising tax impacted consumers the most, with 55 percent of the total tax burden passed on directly to them, resulting in a functional tax hike for taxpayers. For small businesses, these taxes lead to more challenging choices – either significantly raising consumer prices, reducing services, laying off staff, or shutting down completely.

Residents of South Dakota, like most Americans, are still navigating significant economic pressures, including the lingering effects of runaway inflation that began years ago. This creates even more economic uncertainty for businesses and consumers. Additional taxes would only compound these challenges, driving people and investments out of South Dakota and, in an ironic turn, actually increase property taxes.

Proponents of advertising taxes have long argued that they would only affect a handful of multi-billion-dollar companies, but the truth hits much closer to home. Like all business-to-business costs, South Dakota consumers and small businesses will be disproportionately burdened instead.

At a time when President Trump is cutting taxes on hardworking families and small businesses, this proposal would impose a tax on every single business advertising in South Dakota, and in turn, raise the price of the goods and services they offer. President Trump has also taken on the battle against advertising taxes and has threatened additional tariffs on countries that do tax digital advertising.

The ability of businesses of all sizes to access online platforms and reach new customers has leveled the playing field, allowing start-ups, local newspapers, and countless small businesses to grow and find success. The last thing South Dakota business owners and entrepreneurs need is a tax on their efforts to tell consumers about the important goods and services they offer.

In addition to leveling the playing field for South Dakota businesses, advertising is a critical part of South Dakota’s economy. According to an independent study commissioned by the Association of National Advertisers, advertising expenditures generated $16.2 billion in economic activity, while supporting 84,810 jobs in the state. This accounts for 18.1 percent of all jobs in South Dakota. Simply put, advertising is a critical industry for South Dakota and elected officials should be doing everything possible to protect it—not considering legislation that would endanger it.

As a former State Senator, I urge you to focus on ways to harness the state’s opportunity to build a more competitive business environment which would encourage innovation and grow the overall tax base. As a CPA and state tax law expert, I hope that you will see that this misguided idea to tax advertising services would have far-reaching, negative consequences for businesses, consumers, and South Dakota’s economy. For these reasons I urge you to oppose this proposal.

Sincerely,

 

 

Deb Peters, CPA
Tax Expert and Consultant for Association of National Advertisers

I inquired, and Deb was nice enough to provide me a 1-sheet on the issue:

South Dakota Advertising Coalition One Sheet by Pat Powers

The question is whether this is a fight that legislators want to get into, considering it would be a war against advertisers.. the same people that politicians hire to promote themselves.

The Simple Solution to Property Taxes
by Rep. Will Mortenson (R-Fort Pierre)

Property taxes are irritating. The tax notice comes in the mail twice a year, showing that you owe the county treasurer hundreds, thousands, or (if you’re lucky and own very valuable property) tens of thousands of dollars. You pay property taxes, even though you may have bought your house, farm, or business fifty years ago and paid off the mortgage twenty years ago. Because of the stark, high-dollar reminder and the fact that no transaction has taken place, property taxes represent more of a burr under South Dakotans’ saddles than about any other tax.

So, if we do not like property taxes and we want to pay less of them, how should we go about doing that? It is important to know that the State of South Dakota, your state government, does not spend one dime of property tax revenue. All property taxes are allocated to local governments, with about 90% spent in three areas: Law Enforcement, Schools, and Roads. The dollars are not going to some faceless paper-pusher; property taxes fund your teachers, sheriffs, city streets, and rural bridges. So, any real, responsible plan to reduce property taxes must replace the revenue instead of recklessly suggesting that our schools, cities, or counties simply cut their staff or their road budget by 25%.

The good news: a simple, straightforward solution has already been proposed. Last year, I co-sponsored a bill that would have cut owner-occupied property taxes by 35% for all homeowners without defunding the police, our schools, or our roads. The replacement revenue was an increase in the sales tax rate by 0.8%, moving us from 11^th lowest in the nation to 18^th lowest, and making our sales tax rate the same as North Dakota (still 1% lower than Nebraska). Despite the support of a couple dozen smart conservatives in the House of Representatives, the bill was opposed by Gov. Rhoden, the Democrats, and House Leadership, and was defeated. If it had passed, the property taxes on your home would be lower by more than one-third in 2026. Remember that when the notice comes this spring.

A consumption tax like the sales tax is the best replacement revenue. It is fair and consistent across the state. It allows frugal, conservative spenders to avoid paying some taxes, if they are willing to consume less. Another benefit: out-of-staters pay sales tax, from truckers passing through to visiting tourists to out-of-state corporations buying goods and services in South Dakota. While it may only account for ten or fifteen percent, tens of millions of dollars would be paid by out-of-staters in sales taxes that are now paid 100% by South Dakota homeowners in property taxes. Owing to that fact, the property-tax-for-sales-tax swap represents a clear and substantial tax cut for South Dakotans.

The best solution for reducing property taxes is a simple, responsible one, that replaces property tax revenue without defunding vital local services. This summer, ideas have been floated, ranging from a State Income Tax to New County Taxes to putting a 16.2% tax on eggs and bread (that last idea is proposed to go in our constitution!). Reducing property taxes for South Dakota homeowners can be achieved, but not at the expense of our law enforcement, not on the backs of our teachers, and not through income taxes or 15%+ taxes on groceries.  If we are going to deliver property tax relief and tamp down the irritation of that semiannual tax notice, we need to keep it simple, South Dakota.

Thune: Schumer Shutdown Day 21

“[Democrats have] spent their time looking to be praised for fighting against President Trump when they could have been working with him and with Republicans on solving a problem that they claim to be concerned about.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:

Click here to watch the video.

It’s getting kind of hard to figure out who is being censured by the Minnehaha County Republican Party without a censure scorecard.

In the latest, the vice chair and the committeewoman are trying to hold an unauthorized meeting to sanction the chair, Korry Petterson over his sanctioning of Senator Tom Pischke for being a dirtbag to people on Facebook:

From: Minnehaha County GOP Executive Board <minnehahacounty.gop@gmail.com>
Date: October 20, 2025 at 5:22:41 PM CDT
Subject: Special Meeting Notice: Monday, October 27, 2025 at 6:30pm

Dear Minnehaha County Central Committee Members,

We hope this email finds you well.

We are writing to encourage your full participation in our upcoming Central Committee special meeting on Monday, October, 27, 2025. This special meeting called by Bridget Myers and myself, Vice Chairwoman Marsha Symens, will include an important discussion regarding the proposed resolution to censure Chairman Korry Petterson, specifically concerning but not limited to the meetings held on May 12, 2025 and  October 4, 2025. These meetings were conducted improperly.

..

Attached is the agenda and a copy of the county rules.

Sincerely,

Marsha Symens
Vice Chairwoman

Bridget Myers
Executive Committeewoman

I find it hard to believe that people don’t want to get involved in politics when they read about this kind of stuff. (That was sarcasm).  Actually, this is a clown car. Except it’s South Dakota’s largest county and there are more people, so they need a clown bus.

Stay tuned.

South Dakota Democrats are continuing their strong efforts at fundraising, with statewide events not netting a ton of cash, but it’s providing far more returns than the Republican Party is able to.

And they actually have things like events & employees.

2025OctFECSDDP by Pat Powers

As noted, $43,104.03 raised, against $28,256.07.. and about 20,000 additional in kind donations that were used to raise funds, leaves South Dakota Democrats with $47,701.51 in their federal account.

But again, most important, they are showing an active and engaged donor base, which unfortunately I can’t say my side of the aisle seems to be able to come close to with the current management of the South Dakota Republican Party.

That is going to be a problem when we get into the hot part of the election season, when the party will desperately need money for party billing activities.

Gov. Rhoden Announces Nick Lamb as DOC Secretary

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced that Nick Lamb will serve as the new Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary. You can find a picture of Nick Lamb here.

“After an extensive interview process and aggressive national search, we found the right person that will help keep our corrections system strong and safe for both inmates and officers,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “Nick’s leadership will ensure strong implementation of rehabilitation services that will reduce recidivism and keep our communities safe. I am grateful for Secretary Wasko’s service and trust that Nick will pick up the torch with excellence, tenacity, and a heart to serve.”

Nick Lamb is preceded by Secretary Kellie Wasko, who served the State of South Dakota with excellence for the past three-and-a-half years. Current DOC Deputy Secretary Brent Fluke will serve as the Interim Secretary beginning tomorrow, October 21, 2025, until Lamb begins in mid-November.

Lamb has 31 years of correctional leadership experience, having served in the Illinois, New Mexico, and Iowa DOC. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of Institutional Operations for the Iowa DOC, where he oversees nine facilities, 2,500 employees, and approximately 8,500 inmates.

Lamb is also a retired Staff Sergeant with 21 years of proven experience in the United States Army National Guard, serving the states of Illinois, Iowa, and New Mexico. For his dedicated service, Lamb was awarded the Two Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal with a Combat Device, Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Long and Honorable Medal, and Army Combat Action Badge.

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the next Secretary of Corrections by Governor Rhoden. I also want to thank outgoing Secretary Kellie Wasko for her many years of service to the State of South Dakota and for the positive changes she initiated during her tenure,” said Nick Lamb. “I look forward to continuing the department’s mission by working with our dedicated staff to rebuild lives and strengthen public safety with accountability.”

Nick Lamb and his wife have seven kids and soon to be 15 grandchildren. He holds a master’s degree in psychology.

###

The chief executive of the GEVO bio-jetfuel project had some harsh words for Speaker of the House Jon Hansen after he took to twitter claiming that the billion dollar project took state money when it actually didn’t, as reported by KELOland News:

Gevo is taking its aviation jet fuel project to North Dakota but it isn’t taking any South Dakota state money with it, Gevo Chief Executive Officer Pat Gruber said Monday.

“Not one dime. Not one dime came from South Dakota,” Gruber said. Although approved for state money, Gevo did not take or receive it because no plant was built, he said.

and..

Republican Speaker of the House Jon Hansen posted on his X account two days ago calling the $12 million “big corporate welfare” that he would stop if elected Governor. Hansen said the approved $12 million was a “hand out” and that GOED and the Governor’s office were duped.

and..

But that kind of misrepresentation was part of the difficulty and uncertainty of doing business in the state, Gruber said.

Read the entire story here at KeloLand.com.

Between the self-inflicted fire he’s taking on misrepresenting state money on the GEVO project, and the self-inflicted fire he’s taking over his last-minute attempt to derail the prison project, Jon Hansen seems to be the Hansen for Governor campaign’s worst enemy.

And we haven’t even started the 2026 legislative session yet.

SECRETARY MONAE JOHNSON ANNOUNCES “CIVICS IN THE 605: STATEWIDE STICKER SHOWCASE”

PIERRE, S.D. — Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson today announced the return and rebranding of the statewide student sticker contest—formerly the “I Voted” Sticker Contest—now titled Civics in the 605: Statewide Sticker Showcase. Student artists from across South Dakota are invited to submit original designs by February 1, 2026. Winning entries will be used during the 2026 General Election.

To honor student artists and spotlight civic engagement, the Secretary of State’s Office will host an Inaugural Award Ceremony on Wednesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. Finalist artwork will be displayed, and winners will be recognized on-site during the Legislative Session, with opportunities for students and families to tour the Capitol.

“Civics in the 605 is about taking pride in participation and giving students a real connection to their government,” said Secretary Johnson. “These stickers travel with every voter—they’re small but powerful symbols of civic duty and South Dakota pride. I can’t wait to showcase our students’ creativity at the Capitol.”

Submissions will be judged in four grade-level categories: K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. A panel of judges will help select the winning designs prior to the ceremony.

The competition will open on November 1^st, 2025 and will close on February 1^st, 2026. How to Enter:

Full contest details, design guidelines, and submission information are available at: https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/kids-voting-southdakota.aspx

The Senate Republican PAC is hosting a golf fundraiser.. at the start of pheasant hunting season.. according to the e-mail I was forwarded from Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff.

Hearing the wind blow outside as I’m writing this, and I’m wondering if the weather is going to cooperate?  Maybe something hunting related would be a better draw for the end of October?

As part of the event, Sen. Mehlhaff is asking Republican Senators to carve out time & show up early as he indicates that “a major contributor has asked for 5 minutes to visit with the caucus.”

I wonder who that could be. Does that mean Sen. Perry has switched allegiances again, and is going to force them to listen to Toby Doeden? We’ll see. The identity of the major donor could be the most interesting tidbit to come out of the whole thing.

Update – my inside sources tell me that it’s not Toby, but Auto Dealers, who attend every year. (Not sure why they made a big thing out of it.)