Response from supporters of property tax replacement amendment
In Brief: They disagree with several of the categorizations in the story
Editor’s Note: The folks from Abolish Property Taxes in South Dakota have taken issue with our recent article about their presentation in Miller, S.D. on their replacement plan for local property taxes. To be fair and transparent, here are their concerns with the reporting by Scott Sundberg and Todd Epp.
By Mike Mueller, Abolish Property Taxes in South Dakota
Dear Editor,
We have many instances where the information in this article are wrong. Please see corrections below:
PP2:
It is only filed with the Legislative Research Council at this point, which is the first step. We did mention that eventually it will go to the AG.
PP6:
The part of the above quote of "not your right to own" does not fit our presentation, not sure where that came from.
PP7:
We clearly explained that small purchases under $15.00 are taxed at 10% so not all purchases will be taxed the full $1.50. Candy bars fit into small purchases.
PP11:
$5 was never mentioned - what was mentioned is that if the Legislature looked back at the previous year and the revenue was short, then they could raise the transaction tax UP TO 5 cents more if needed for the upcoming year.
The simplest explanation is that Property Taxes will go to zero and this fully funded replacement revenue source (transaction tax) completely takes the place of the previous property tax revenue.
Overall, since we are in the initial review process for the language and constitutional "fit" review, we hope to have a final approved version of the amendment soon to start gathering petition signatures. We understand this is a revolutionary way to abolish property taxes and it raises both confusion and questions.