Results 1- 20 of 44
February 27, 2008
State Employees May Get Flat $1,000 Raises
A plan to give state government workers in South Dakota flat pay raises of $1,000 each has been unveiled in the Joint Appropriations Committee.
Governor Mike Rounds has proposed a 2.5 percent salary increase for all state employees.
Representative Mary Glenski of Sioux Falls says giving flat $1,000 raises would be an improvement over the governor's proposal for state workers who make $40,000 or less.
February 25, 2008
Committee Optimistic About Economy
The Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee is optimistic about South Dakota's economy and the prospects for collection of state taxes in the next year.
The committee has agreed that state general revenue will be about $1.2 billion in the budget year beginning July 1. That's about $11 million more than the governor's budget office had predicted.
February 25, 2008
Committee To Make State Revenue Estimate
South Dakota legislators are scheduled to decide today how much revenue state government can expect from taxes in the coming budget year that begins July first.
The decision by the Joint Appropriations Committee is a key part of forging the annual state budget.
Lawmakers must decide how much money is likely to flow into state coffers before they can decide how much the state can afford to spend.
February 21, 2008
State Fair Subsidy Advances
The South Dakota Legislature has approved a special appropriation measure that will provide the State Fair with a $768,000 subsidy.
Governor Mike Rounds had proposed putting $750,000 for the State Fair in the general state budget bill, but lawmakers decided to keep the annual subsidy in a special spending bill.
February 20, 2008
Committee Dumps Public Information Bill
An effort to enlighten taxpayers about state government spending in South Dakota has been turned aside by legislators in Pierre.
The Senate State Affairs Committee killed a bill that would have required the state to set up a Web site that provided information on all sorts of government spending.
February 13, 2008
Ag Property Tax Assessment Change Approved
The South Dakota Senate has passed a major change in the way agricultural land is valued for property tax purposes.
February 11, 2008
Spending Bill Dumped
Democrats in the South Dakota Senate have failed to gain approval of legislation that would have imposed restraints on state government spending.
SB106 sought to limit annual increases in spending to three percent, or the cost of inflation, whichever was less.
February 11, 2008
Bill Would Limit State Spending
Democrats in the South Dakota Senate are scheduled to push for legislation today that would slap restraints on state government spending.
SB106 would limit annual increases in spending to three percent, or the cost of inflation, whichever is less.
February 8, 2008
Bill Would Fund State Fair
A bill that would help fund the South Dakota State Fair has cleared the House Appropriations Committee.
As it was introduced, HB1179 would have given the fair $750,000. The measure advanced Thursday to the House floor increases the amount of the annual subsidy to $768,000.
February 1, 2008
Spending Bills Dumped
South Dakota lawmakers who have been working long hours to whip the next state budget into shape have begun dropping bills that seek to add to the debt.
Among those measures that have been rejected was a bill to provide $100,000 to support the state Hall of Fame at Chamberlain.
January 31, 2008
$14 Billion In Farmland Not Assessed Properly
The state of South Dakota is losing millions in property taxes and the legislature wants to do something about it. Lawmakers say approximately $14 billion worth of agricultural land is not being assessed accurately.
January 28, 2008
Committee Approves Farm Land Value Change
A state House committee has approved a bill that would make a major change in the way farmland is valued for property tax purposes.
HB1005 would value agricultural land based on its ability to produce agricultural income.
January 25, 2008
Biodiesel Tax Break Advances
Aproposed tax break on biodiesel fuel made in South Dakota has passed another milepost in the state Legislature.
The two-cent-per-gallon tax break cleared the state Senate on a unanimous vote, sending the measure to the House.
Governor Rounds is behind the idea. He says it'll help jump-start the state's biodiesel industry.
January 24, 2008
Committee Rejects Tax Cut On Food
A South Dakota House committee has rejected a bill that would have reduced the state sales tax on food while replacing the lost revenue by putting a new tax on advertising.
The bill's main sponsor, Rep. Mary Glenski of Sioux Falls, says low-income people need a break on food taxes.
January 24, 2008
Ethanol Tax Repeal Dumped
An effort in the South Dakota Legislature to repeal the two-cent tax break on each gallon of ethanol-enhanced gasoline that's sold in the state has failed. Senator Jerry Apa of Lead offered the repeal measure.
The tax break was originated three decades ago to help the ethanol industry get started, and Apa says it no longer needs that help.
January 23, 2008
Tax Break For Biodiesel Advances
A South Dakota Senate committee has approved Governor Rounds' proposal to give a tax break to biodiesel fuel.
The State Affairs Committee voted unanimously to send the measure to the full Senate for further debate.
January 22, 2008
Bill Would Reduce Food Tax
A bipartisan group of South Dakota legislators is pushing a bill that would reduce the current four percent state sales tax on food to three percent.
There have been numerous attempts over the years to eliminate or reduce the tax on food because of its essential nature.
HB1243 would begin taxing advertising to make up for lowering the tax on food by one percentage point.
January 21, 2008
Alcohol Tax Hike Cuts Two Ways
A man who owns a Hill City winery says an attempt to nearly triple the wholesale tax on alcohol would put South Dakota wineries out of business.
January 17, 2008
Bill Would Eliminate Ethanol Tax Exemption
South Dakota needs more money for roads, and the chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee has come up with a plan to provide it.
January 16, 2008
Dime-A-Drink Tax
County officials in South Dakota hoped a ten cent drink tax would help cover a police funding gap, and even though supporters pulled the bill in Pierre today, the tax isn't going away.
Results 1- 20 of 44
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