South Dakota Housing requests $715,000 increase as lawmakers press on infrastructure loans and governor's house pace

Chaz Olson, executive director of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority, told the Joint Committee on Appropriations that the agency is requesting a $715,000 net increase to its FY26 appropriation and outlined program activity and COVID-relief wind‑downs.

Olson said the authority administers single‑family mortgage lending, multifamily production programs and several federal and state housing funds, and he asked lawmakers to consider budget adjustments to cover contractual inflation, salary adjustments and other costs. "South Dakota Housing was created in 1973 as a public or an independent public instrumentality for the purpose of issuing bonds and notes, to develop finance and develop affordable housing opportunities," Olson said during his presentation.

Why it matters: the authority manages both financing and program delivery for multiple housing streams — loan products, HUD and IRS programs, state housing infrastructure funds and pandemic relief dollars. Lawmakers pressed Olson on how quickly infrastructure grants and loans are being spent, what protections exist if projects fail to proceed, and how the governor's house program is performing.

Olson described the FY26 request as a $715,000 increase composed primarily of $200,000 in contractual/service increases (insurance, rent and audit), $300,000 proposed for salary adjustments, $60,000 for marketing, roughly $160,000 for higher…