Brookings County shows under-1% net assessment growth for 2026; building permits mixed

At the April 14 meeting the county appraisal office presented the 2026 assessment overview, reporting a 2025 full-and-true countywide valuation of $4,462,721,004.73 and countywide 2026 full-and-true value of $4,606,307,007.23 after allowable growth adjustments. Staff characterized the net change as just under 1% growth compared with the previous base year.

Staff noted $286,000,000 of assessed value sits within Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district boundaries and that reappraisal inside TIFs added roughly $59,000,000 of value; staff explained that reappraisal increases inside a TIF are reported separately and will count as growth to taxing entities over the TIF's life. The presentation also included building-permit trends: countywide new-house permits rose slightly (92 in Brookings City, 20 in small incorporated towns and 41 in townships). "We have 92 new house permits issued in Brookings City, 20 in the small incorporated towns, and, actually, 41 permits issued out in the townships," staff said.

The office reviewed assessment techniques, exemptions and taxable-factor implications, noting non-ag valuation ended at about 88% of market on the dataset and an expected taxable factor around 96.4% for taxes due in 2027; ag land remains valued at 100% for productivity valuation and taxed on 85% of assessed value per state law.