Property owners across South Dakota receive assessment documents from their county’s Director of Equalization every spring. The assessment notice received this year is the estimate of the property’s fair market value for 2023 which will be used to calculate the property taxes to be paid in January 2024. Property taxes fund things such as schools, fire and police protection, streets, libraries, and other public benefits.
Each year, state law requires properties to be assessed at their fair market value, which is the amount the property could be sold for. When the market goes up, the assessed value of a property will also go up. Sales of similar properties show when the assessed values are too low.
Property taxes are calculated based on what a home is worth, and the amount of tax dollars needed by local government (City, County, and Schools are the three primary taxing entities). If reassessments all increase equally, then everyone pays the same share of taxes based on their property value.
When the cost to provide services goes up, more property taxes need to be collected from each property owner and a new tax rate is calculated. To get the new rate, we take the amount the town needs and divide it by the property values. The new rate is applied to all homes and each property owner pays the new tax amount to continue to fund all the services.
In South Dakota, on March 1, assessment notices are mailed to property owners. Towns must set their budgets by September 1. Towns submit their tax requests to the county auditor by October 1. Property tax levies are calculated by the county auditor and certified by the Department of Revenue in November and December. The tax bills mailed in January, are for property taxes from the previous year. They are due January 1, but not delinquent until April 30 for the first half and October 31 for the second half.
Property owners may appeal their assessed values, but not their tax bill. If you believe your assessed value is more than what you could sell your property for, you should visit your local assessor’s office and have them explain your value. Property owner appeal dates are in March for their local boards and April for county and consolidated boards. Deadlines to appeal can be found on the appeals guide. Guide (PDF) hdor. sd.gov/media/hm2dk2cu/ property-owner_2023-ptappeal- process-guide.pdf If a property owner has questions on how the value of their property is established, or if you think something is wrong with their assessment, they should contact their county Director of Equalization.
For additional information on property taxes, please go to dor.sd.gov contact your local county office or contact the Department of Revenue at 1-800-829-9188
