What is the relationship between the County Equalization office, the Treasurer’s office and the Auditor’s Office?
According to state law, the County Director of Equalization is responsible for the appraisal and the assessment of property. The Treasurer’s Office is responsible for billing and collection of taxes. The Auditor calculates the taxes by determining budgets set by elected officials. (see Property Tax Assessment Process)
Can other people view my property information?
Like all public records, all property assessment information is available to any individual or company that wishes to review it.
Will I be charged for reviewing information about my property?
There is no charge for reviewing assessment information about a property. However, if you wish to have a property card other than a property that you own there is a charge.
I don’t feel my assessment is correct, what are my options?
If you do not agree with the assessment on your property please contact our office. You can have an appraiser go and review the property and/or you can appeal the value to the Board of Equalization. (see Appeal Process Guide)
What is the owner/occupied program?
Each owner occupied single-family dwelling in this state is specifically classified for the purpose of taxation. The owner/occupied program has a distinct classification of its own as long as it is owned and occupied November 1st of any given year. This can only be applied to one dwelling in the State of South Dakota. Any time a property changes ownership an application must be applied for from November 1st to March 15th of each given year.
When is the assessment date?
November 1st of every year is the legal assessment date. This means that however your property is sitting on November 1st is the way it will be assessed for the following year. Example: a house under new construction being only 50% complete as of November 1st will only be assessed at 50%.
How is Land Assessed?
Land is generally assessed depending on how it is classified. Residential properties are commonly assessed by the front feet and commercial is assessed usually by the square foot. Acreages are normally assessed by the acre amount. The first one and one half acres is the building eligibility and done at a higher acre amount with the remaining or residual acres at a lower rate. This lower rate is generated by the rate in which a typical county crop rating is established. Ag land is assessed by productivity using a soil survey method.
How do you arrive at an assessed value?
A land value is determined by its classification and its location. A building value is mainly determined by the quality of the structure, the size of the structure, the design of the structure and the condition of the structure. Extra features to the structure also add value. An example of an extra feature would be basement finish if the structure were a single family dwelling. The structure is then depreciated and a value is arrived at. (see What is An Appraisal)
What triggers an appraiser to come to my home or business?
Any time a building permit is issued from the city or from the county planning office a copy of that permit is received by us. We will then go out on all building permits. Neighborhoods within the City of Sioux Falls as well as small towns and townships are reviewed as often as possible. A door to door review is done typically to a few neighborhoods or towns each year.
How will an improvement to my property affect my taxes?
Typically anything that is considered general maintenance will not affect the assessment of a property. This would include re-shingling or residing. When giving out an estimation it would typically be the cost of the project (including labor) multiplied by the current tax rate for any given year.
