Rhoden praises low tax burden amidst slowdown in state revenue

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - This week, the Governor’s office put out the state’s Fiscal Year 25 Budget numbers, which showed a surplus of $63 million.

This is the fourth straight year that South Dakota’s budget surplus has dropped, but Governor Rhoden is not concerned, as he described it as a slowdown from record-breaking years and an indication of good conservative fiscal policies.

On Tuesday, Governor Rhoden stopped in Volga to tour Houdek, a company that specializes in fermentation technology.

“The amount of soybean that they process here, for a state like South Dakota to be producing this quantity is pretty incredible,” Rhoden remarked.

Rhoden’s Open for Opportunity tour continues to explore the possibilities of industry, but the state’s most recent budget numbers tighten the reins on what the state can do compared to recent years.

“It remains to be seen, obviously we had a slowdown from the years we were breaking records, all kinds of records every single year, and now we’re back to more traditional results in the growth of our economy,” Rhoden said.

South Dakota is proud to not have a corporate or personal income tax, and it now has a law in the books that will cut property taxes significantly.

“And that in turn has enabled us to be very conservative with our government, and that’s a big reason why South Dakota is always 1,2 or 3 as far as being the least taxed state in the nation,” Rhoden said.

The state continues to find creative ways to bring in revenue through some of its trust funds, such as the Education Trust Fund, Cement Trust Fund and its recently established Unclaimed Property Trust Fund.

Another point to note is that the state’s sales tax had a slightly disappointing fiscal year, finishing $3.7 million lower than recent estimates. The sales tax is South Dakota’s largest revenue source.