Meade county woman shocked at property tax bill: ‘How can you win?’
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Many people in the Black Hills may agree with Ruth Laffey who lives in Meade County. Laffey says she was shocked when she opened her 2022 property tax bill. It had jumped nearly 350% in just two years. Legislators in Pierre heard similar complaints during the last legislative session. However, elected officials did not approve a bill to relieve property owners.
Laffey feels defeated trying to cover her property taxes. In documents Laffey provided KOTA Territory, she paid $338 per year for her 5-acre lot in 2020. In 2023 she is expected to pay $541 every six months. The Meade County Auditor’s Office refused our request for an interview.
A property tax bill can’t be adjusted. So she is making changes at her home to cut costs like canning food and using wood instead of natural gas to heat her home.
“So if it comes to the point if the dryer is taking a lot of [natural gas], I’m not going to use a dryer, I’m putting up a clothesline,” Laffey points to her empty yard.
During the legislature this year it was a battle between property tax relief or cutting the sales tax. “Our plan was to give $425 to each homeowner and an owner-occupied structure. Didn’t pass,” said District 32 Senator Helene Duhamel.
Property owners have options to curb property tax shocks. One option is to appeal. Laffey provided KOTA Territory with her appeal letter, she says it was denied. Seniors living on fixed incomes also have the option to freeze their assessments. Laffey says the qualifications are complex and narrow.
Currently, legislators are studying property taxes. Lawmakers want to know where the property tax burden comes from.
“What the county actually gets, what they have to pay. They get those property taxes and then give them to schools and cities. There is no fee to even administer that,” explains Duhamel. “Running elections, that’s a huge expense and a lot of these elections are state elections. When you break a law, it’s a state law. We’re just starting to look at what is the appropriate thing that the county should be footing the bill for.”
In Meade County in 2020, 54.65% of collected property taxes were for schools, 10.72% were sent to fund cities, and 27.51% returned to the county. Duhamel says state lawmakers are re-evaluating what falls on the county’s shoulders.
“When you look at a courthouse and you take it and you turn it upside down and shake it. The facility is the county’s but everything that falls out is supposed to be the state’s burden,” explains Duhamel. “Wouldn’t the jury, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, wouldn’t that also fall out?”
Duhamel suggests, “Potentially if we take some of the burden off of counties that are funded predominately from property taxes, we can give some relief.”
Duhamel predicts legislators will take up multiple property tax relief bills during the 2024 legislative session.
After the sunset of the sales tax reduction
The current 0.3% sales tax reduction that began on July 1, will return to 4.5% on July 1, 2027.
“Another thought, and it’s way out there. There’s a four-year sunset on the sales tax. When that were to come off in four years, maybe that will be a way to give counties that share,” says Duhamel. The Rapid City Senator suggests using that 0.3% sales tax as county relief.
Copyright 2023 KOTA. All rights reserved.
