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Residents tell Brookings County commission gross-receipts tax would hurt fixed-income households and rural shoppers
Summary
Multiple residents urged caution on a proposed county gross-receipts tax, raising concerns it would offer limited benefit to those on fixed incomes, shift costs to non-owner-occupied property owners, and funnel retail dollars to neighboring counties.
During public comment on June 22, several residents told the Brookings County commissioners they worried a county-level gross-receipts tax under SB 96 would not help many vulnerable residents and could shift burdens to others.
Brookings County resident Dennis DeBoer said he did not expect a large return and asked how the change would affect residents on fixed incomes or with disabilities. Resident Larry Tidemann warned that sales-tax-driven revenue can be volatile in downturns and expressed concern that purchases in neighboring jurisdictions (such as Sioux Falls) would not return revenue to Brookings County. Jim Schade said non-owner-occupied property owners would "be picking up the tab," arguing the benefit would accrue mainly to homeowners who remain in place.
A Moody County resident, John Wiese, said he does a lot of business in Brookings and Minnehaha and asked why he should effectively pay to reduce Brookings property taxes when his purchases often occur elsewhere, calling the proposal "a scam on the rural people of South Dakota." No formal rebuttal to those characterizations was recorded; commissioners acknowledged the concerns and opted to wait and consider the experience of other counties and potential resident-led initiatives before moving forward.
These public comments highlight equity and regional-competition questions the board cited later when discussing whether to pursue an ordinance.
