Pennington County Commissioners put a new state law to work designed to give owner-occupied property owners a break on their property taxes.

At their regular commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved Ordinance 796, imposing a .5 percent county gross receipts tax and use tax for Pennington County.

“The county doesn’t get anymore money – there’s no more money in this for the county,” said Ron Weifenbach, commission chair and District 2 representative. “This is not an added tax – this is a shift, a shift from owner-occupied property to the sales tax.”

The ordinance meets the provisions of Senate Bill 96, passed by the state Legislature in 2026, giving counties the options to generate revenue while lowering property taxes. Exactly how much a property tax bill will be reduced is dependent on sales tax receipts.

Monies collected will be directed to the South Dakota Department of Revenue which will redistribute the funds to the county and placed in a property tax reduction fund.

The new tax will go into effect January 1, 2027, and property owners will see the property tax reduction statements on 2028 tax notices.