South Dakota Small Businesses, While Still Struggling, Grateful for South Dakota Economy
NFIB, or the National Federation of Independent Business, the leading small business organization in South Dakota, thanks the legislature for a successful 2022 session, during which legislators blocked three bills that are detrimental to small business owners.
The first, HB 1053, would have imposed a new county sales tax to fund courthouses, public safety center or jails. In addition to the state sales tax, municipalities are already able to levy a first and second penny sales tax along with a bed, board & booze tax and also an occupancy tax.
“In some areas of South Dakota, there is already a multi-layered framework in place so this would have created additional layers to an already complex system. Many of our small business owners are already struggling. Here’s the deal: many small businesses are in still in pandemic recovery mode – in January, a third of NFIB’s members reported sales were still down 25% or more from pre-pandemic levels. According to NFIB’s latest member survey, 26 percent of business owners are listing inflation as their top concern.”
SB 166 would have reduced the sales tax on food without addressing how the state would replace this significant revenue. It was defeated in the first committee that considered it 5-2. SB 70 would have expanded the time to report an injury for worker’s compensation from three to 30 business days. This too was defeated in the first committee that considered it.
According to the latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, 26 percent of small business owners nationwide said inflation is the single most important problem in operating their business, the highest reading since the third quarter of 1981.
