FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has released the final ballot explanation for a proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment submitted by sponsors that would repeal property taxes in South Dakota and replace them with a “retail transaction” tax. The proposed amendment would be on the 2026 general election ballot if 35,017 valid petition signatures are collected.

Attorney General Jackley takes no position on any such proposal for purposes of the ballot explanation.  As required by law, he has provided a fair and neutral explanation on the initiated Constitutional Amendment to help assist the voters as required by state law. The sponsor of the proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment is Abolish Property Taxes SD, a Statewide Ballot Question Committee formed by Julie Frye-Mueller, Matt Smith, and Mike Mueller.

This proposed initiated Constitutional Amendment would repeal the South Dakota’s property tax scheme set forth in the Constitution and replaces it with a tax “on each retail transaction.”  For each “retail transaction” of $15 or more, a flat tax of $1.50 is assessed.  For each “retail transaction” less than $15, a 10% tax is assessed.

The Attorney General’s explanation was finalized after a review of all the comments received during the 10-day comment period on the Attorney General’s draft explanation. A total of 229 comments were received by the deadline.

Language for the final initiated ballot measure explanation can be found here.

Ballot Explanation Comments can be found here.

For more information regarding ballot measures, please visit the Secretary of State’s website.

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