A proposal to replace property taxes with a flat retail fee was killed in the South Dakota Senate.
Senate Bill 243 would have charged shoppers one dollar and fifty cents on most retail transactions.
It would funnel the money into a fund to eliminate residential property taxes first, then agricultural, then commercial.
The Senate Taxation Committee voted four to three Friday to kill it.
Sponsor Sen. John Carley of Piedmont said South Dakota was following a national trend.
Critics said a flat one-fifty fee hits rural South Dakotans hardest — people who must make multiple stops to buy basic goods.
Sen. Amber Hulse of Hot Springs voted to table the bill but spelled out the rural equity problem.
Though the bill has been killed, a similar constitutional amendment is already circulating for the November 2026 ballot.
Comments