ASouth Dakota Farm Bureau is closely monitoring a few bills in the state legislature, including one that would change the grassland assessment. Lobbyist Michael Held says the intention of the bill is good, but the unintended consequences would be significant for property taxpayers. “It would shift assessment levels and then taxation to the other property owners in the county.” The other big area of interest is what’s happening with federal money. Farm Bureau would like some of it to be spent expanding rural broadband. Held says lawmakers will continue to introduce legislation for the next few weeks; 500 hundred to 600 bills are expected to be introduced in this year’s session, a 50 percent increase from last year.
