The South Dakota House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee advanced a bill that will reduce taxes on grasslands in western South Dakota. South Dakota Stock Growers Association Executive Director James Halverson says they support House Bill 1039 which allows agriculture landowners to request their property be classified as non-cropland, regardless of soil classification, if it meets a new criteria. It must be either native grassland or land that’s been unharvested or used for animal grazing for the past 20 years.
He says the bill will fix a “blind spot” in how the state determines whether agricultural land should be taxed as cropland or ranchland.
Halverson says the bill corrects a tax shift that has been hurting ranchers and farmers since 2008, when the Legislature switched to a production valuation system for assessing agriculture land.
The South Dakota Retailers Association is concerned the bill will shift the tax burden to those in western South Dakota that can least afford it. Halverson says that is headwind they must overcome for passage.
