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Committee applies owner‑occupied amendment to SJR506 but fails to advance joint resolution

South Dakota Senate Taxation Committee · February 19, 2026

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Summary

The Senate Taxation Committee applied amendment 506a to SJR506 (narrowing a proposed constitutional property‑tax reset to owner‑occupied properties) but a subsequent motion to send the joint resolution to the 40 first day failed on a 3‑3 roll call; the committee will revisit the measure when full membership is present.

Committee members voted to apply amendment 506a to Senate Joint Resolution 506, narrowing the proposed constitutional property‑tax reset to owner‑occupied properties. The chair opened committee questions about a late amendment and sponsors explained the change was intended to make the measure more politically viable.

Senator Carley (District 29) described amendment 506a as converting the joint resolution’s broader reset (which originally included owner‑occupied, ag and non‑ag properties) into an owner‑occupied‑only approach, saying that owner‑occupied properties represent the greatest need. She told the committee the amended plan would keep "about 90% in there" for budgeting and would use a 1%/2% reset at sale to provide revenue when homes change hands.

Department of Revenue property tax division lead Wendy Semler said the department’s concerns remained: even limited to owner‑occupied properties, the proposal would shift tax burdens, create inequality among owner‑occupied parcels and produce instability for local budgets.

The committee then voted on a motion to send the amended SJR506 to the 40 first day. The roll call was evenly split — 3 yeas, 3 nays, 1 excused — and the motion failed. The chair said the committee will revisit the joint resolution at the next scheduled meeting when a full committee is present.

What’s next: Amendment 506a is on the joint resolution record, but the committee did not advance SJR506 to the 40 first day; the sponsor and DOR were asked to provide additional context and local‑budget modeling before the committee reconvenes.