June 2026 Elevate Rapid City South Dakota

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS • PROVEN SERVICE SINCE 1976

This year marks 50 years of architecture, partnerships, and purposedriven design for Architecture Incorporated.

Since 1976, we’ve been committed to creating meaningful spaces through Creative Solutions and Proven Service.

As we celebrate this milestone, we’re also excited to introduce a refreshed brand identity and new logo that reflects our continued growth and forwardlooking vision.

While our look is evolving, our commitment to thoughtful design, strong relationships, and quality service remains the same.

FORWARD THINKING & STRATEGIC

MOBLIE TO BRICK 'N' MORTAR

THE FIZZY SIDE

Ana Maria Killion By Kory

Jerred Bren

Lanphear

By Michelle Pawelski

Sidni Hood By Wade Ellett

Cover photo by Bailey Sadowsky

WHAT'S INSIDE

GLENN’S GUIDE TO THE JUNE ISSUE OF ELEVATE

Rapid City’s food scene is evolving, and the entrepreneurs behind it are bringing fresh ideas, global influence, and strong community roots along for the ride.

In this issue of Elevate, you’ll meet entrepreneurs redefining what food and hospitality can look like in the Black Hills. From Ana Maria Killion of Patas Azules, who introduced authentic Ecuadorian cuisine while helping create new supply chains for the region, to Jarred Bren of Tandoor Bocado, whose global culinary experiences inspired one of Rapid City’s most unique restaurants.

And, you’ll also meet embodiment of pizazz, Sidni Hood of The Soda Bar, whose bright pink trailer and creative dirty soda concept are bringing fun and connection to communities across the Black Hills region.

Together, these stories reflect a growing moblie food culture rooted in creativity, resilience, and the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that continues to make Rapid City a place where bold ideas can thrive.

"MY

- SIDNI HOOD -

DARLA JONES

Rapid City

605-399-4211 NMLS #747401

KELLY L. HARNETT

Spearfish

605-559-1255

NMLS #1409924

CINDY R. FREDRICH

Rapid City

605-399-4277

NMLS #648733

www.bankwest-sd.bank

All loans subject to credit approval. Member FDIC. NMLS #685987.

Elevate is a monthly publication produced by Elevate Rapid City. It is the premier business magazine for the Black Hills region telling the stories that make our area unique and vibrant.

PO Box 747 Rapid City, SD 57709 605.343.1744

elevaterapidcity.com

INTERIM CEO

Todd Kenner

INTERIM COO

Darren Haar

SR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR

Taylor Davis

SR MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRE CTOR

Shiloh Francis

SR PUBLIC POLICY DIRECTOR

Garth Wadsworth

SR BUSINESS

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Kallie Ruland

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Liz Highland

CREATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR

Bailey Sadowsky

SPECIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR

Laura Jones

ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT & PROPERTY MANAGER

Loni Reichert

BUSINESS PROSPECT MANAGER

Drew Staufer

EVENTS & MARKETING MANAGER

Kamryn Wainwright

INVESTOR SALES MANAGER

Adam Braun

WORKFORCE PROGRAMS MANAGER

Krystal Bresnahan

EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Ashley Simonson

Winners Announced June 9, 2026

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

A&B Business Solutions

Generation Plumbing

Who’s Toy House

LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Millstone Family Restaurant

Nerdy Nuts

RCS Construction

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

BEST PLACE TO WORK AWARD

RESPEC

South Dakota Mines and Technology

Rapid City Rush

BUSINESS EXPANSION AWARD

Liberty Superstores

Innovative Materials and Processes

Black Hills State University

GEORGE AWARD

Marnie Herrmann

NON-PROFIT OF THE YEAR AWARD

West River Mental Health

Black Hills Works

Children’s Home Society of SD

CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE

Black Hills Works

Freidel and Associates

A&B Business Solutions

BEAUTIFICATION AWARD

Liberty Powersports and Marine

Rapid City Fire Department Station 1

Aspen Federal Credit Union

EMERGING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Krusty Bin Cleaners

Nanna’s Café and Bread Company

The Rustic Nook Bakery

GRANITE

Monument

EVENTS 2026 JUNE

June 4–6

BLACK HILLS QUILT SHOW

The Monument bhquilters.org/events/quilt-show

June 4 THE RATHCO Main Street Square visitrapidcity.com/event

June 6

CRAZY HORSE SPRING VOLKSMARCH

Crazy Horse Memorial crazyhorsememorial.org/event

June 7

NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND

The Monument themonument.live/events

June 7–21

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED)

Black Hills Playhouse theatre605.org

June 10

CONCERT IN THE PARK Memorial Park rapidcitymunicipalband.org

June 12–14

#GREENWAYDAYS Founders Park friendsofrapidcityparks.org

June 13

JESS KLEMM

BIN 605 Wine Beer & Tapas Bar

KIDS’ CARNIVAL

Main Street Square visitrapidcity.com/event

THE DOSE: A PSYCHEDELIC COMEDY SHOW

West River Comedy Club tickettailor.com/events

June 18

BLACK HILLS SOUL Main Street Square blackhillssoul.com/home

COLLIN DONLEY BAND Murphy’s Pub and Grill

June 20

WEST BOULEVARD FESTIVAL Wilson Park

June 25

LUCAS OLSON TRIO Main Street Square

June 28–30

1776 (AMERICA’S PRIZE WINNING MUSICAL)

Black Hills Playhouse theatre605.org

Events are curated with the most accurate information available at the time of print. Please check the event website for full details or changes.

WE LOVE OUR WRITERS

KORY LANPHEAR

WHAT SONG IS GETTING THE MOST PLAYS IN YOUR CAR LATELY?

"High Harmonic of Ultraviolet"

- Vinyl Williams & Chaz Bundick

WHAT'S A HIDDEN GEM BUSINESS OR SPOT IN YOUR TOWN THAT DESERVES WAY MORE ATTENTION?

Everybody's Bookstore on W. Main in Rapid City. Support local, buy used and read paper books.

IF YOU HAD TO SHOW A FIRST-TIME VISITOR ONE THING ABOUT THE RAPID CITY AREA, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

The Leonard Swanson Memorial Pathway or, as everybody actually calls it "the bike path."

WHERE DO YOUR BEST IDEAS COME FROMSHOWER, DRIVE, WALKS?

Bike rides and hikes.

WHAT DOES A PERFECT DAY OFF LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

Doing all of the above in a single day with my family would be peak RC.

Rapid City Business Journal is a weekly show and a business news website produced by Elevate Rapid City and The HomeSlice Group. We strive to produce daily and weekly business news supporting Rapid City, The Black Hills, and South Dakota.

333 West Boulevard Ste. 200 Rapid City, SD 57709

605.343.6161

rapidcitybusinessjournal.com

WRITER

SPOTLIGHT

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Mark Houston

PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR

Leslie Cline

IT/ENGINEERING

Chris Jaques

PRODUCER

Amber Clement

PRODUCTION

Oakley Tye

PROMOTIONS

Mitchell Stafford

WEBSITE DESIGN

Chris Hornick

DATA MANAGEMENT

Josh Partridge

OPERATIONS

Toni Kinney

THE CAST

M ark Houston

Leslie Cline

Amy Rose

Mitchell Stafford

Oakley Tye

Brandon Jones

Gary Matthews

Francie Ganje

Another HomeSlice Audio Production

MORTAR BRICK 'N' MOBILE TO

JARRED BREN REINVENTS RAPID CITY’S FOOD SCENE WITH GLOBAL FLAVORS

STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI \\ PHOTOS BY BAILEY SADOWSKY

JJarred Bren sits in the booth of his downtown Rapid City restaurant Tandoor Bocado, a favorite cookbook nearby. The eatery is closed, and it’s Jarred’s day “off” yet he is cleaning, doing inventory and talking business.

When the restaurant is open, he works at every station, every shift and puts out any fires, both literally and figuratively.

Restaurant life is one that started many years ago for Jarred, in the dish pits of Pierre’s dining establishments, and one that he remains dedicated to. Ninety-hour weeks have a way of wiring themselves into a person. Once in the DNA, the culinary lifestyle is hard to shake.

It definitely has been for Jarred.

Despite the ups and downs. He has never given up the passion he has for creating diverse food and sharing it with his community of foodies.

His restaurant is one of Rapid City’s most talked-about food destinations. Handmade naan emerges from the tandoor oven beside Korean kimchi that has stayed on the menu since the first days of his food truck. Indian spices mingle with Mexican influences. Every dish carries pieces of Jarred’s travels, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and chefs he has met along the way. However, it all traces back to Pierre, where Jarred’s journey started in high school in the least glamorous place: behind a sink full of dirty dishes.

“I was in high school and was a dishwasher and just cooking at a little food shop in town up on the Missouri River,” he said, chuckling that he got fired from that job.

It didn’t take him long to get a new gig, washing dishes at another small restaurant – one that changed the direction of his life.

The kitchen suddenly lost its chef, leaving the restaurant scrambling. Jarred, barely an adult, jumped in to keep the business running.

He fumbled through the menu until a new chef came in, bringing his

Mexican culture, and taking the teenager under his wing.

“He brought his Mexican cuisine and said I might as well keep cooking,” Jarred said. “I started cooking there and that’s kind of where it went. I was about 17 or 18, and within that time I decided that maybe I should stick with cooking. And so, at age 19, I graduated and immediately moved to Portland, Oregon, and started culinary school.”

He moved in with a chef he worked with in Pierre and started school at the Western Culinary Institute, now the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.

He interned at Wildwood, a popular Portland restaurant, where he had his first introduction to a tandoor oven. The oven and a cookbook, Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest by the restaurant’s owner and chef, would become the foundation for Jarred’s food truck many years later.

“When it came time to conceptualize what I wanted to do for my food truck, that was what I went back to,” he said.

It was also at Wildwood where Jarred found a love for local ingredients. Oregon is a self-sustainable state with salmon coming from nearby rivers, mushrooms from

Oregon forests, produce from farms outside the city and roaming plains for land animals.

While not as attainable in South Dakota, Jarred still prides himself on using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible.

After years of studying food, working long hours, and developing a new climbing hobby in his limited free time, Jarred left Wildwood and embarked on a nearly two-month backpacking trip across Europe. He had two goals, to rock climb and eat his way through as much of Europe as possible. “I was inspired to learn more about food and different cuisines,” he said.

After Europe, Jarred cooked at Sundance Resort near Utah’s Mount Timpanogos before stepping away from

kitchens to build log furniture and pursue climbing in Colorado. He later returned to the restaurant industry in Telluride, where he worked for nearly a decade, expanding his culinary perspective beyond the European cuisine that had defined his career to that point.

After Telluride, he returned to South Dakota to re-evaluate his life. “I had to regroup. My life was stagnant. The cooking industry was keeping it stagnant.”

He also had a son to think about.

After several dead-end jobs in South Dakota and Utah, an opportunity came that again changed his trajectory.

Jarred began working in Lake Powell, Utah, at Amangiri, a luxury resort with nearly 30 global locations. With expo-

sure to chefs from Cambodia and Hong Kong to India and Morocco, Jarred’s culinary world opened, and his love for cooking returned. “All these chefs from different countries would come with food that was just beyond my scope,” he said. “That’s when I really started peaking. I did the most global expansion of my life during that tenure in Utah.”

Jarred brought that knowledge and passion back to South Dakota where he opened his first restaurant on wheels - a food truck with a tandoor oven and wok – on May 22, 2022.

“I didn’t know anything and it was rough at first.”

He created a commercial-grade prep kitchen in his basement, continually refining his food and offerings.

After two successful years, Jarred partnered with a hometown friend and opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in downtown Rapid City, adding many of his original favorites, including his homemade kimchi, to the menu.

Today, Tandoor Bocado reflects the journey that shaped Jarred, global flavors inspired by years of travel, long hours in kitchens across the country and lots of hard work, all rooted in his South Dakota beginnings.

Jarred looks forward to welcoming visitors through his doors and sharing his globally inspired cuisine that is a world away from the dish pits of Pierre. *

the of side RAPID CITY

SIDNI HOOD BRINGS THE FUN WITH DIRTY SODAS ON THE GO.

Sidni Hood is parked in pink, pouring happiness and most importantly, she’s glad you’re here

The first thing you’ll notice about The Soda Bar is the color.

Not the menu, or even the trailer itself. The color.

Bright pink, impossible to miss amid neutral storefronts and practical midwestern palettes, The Soda Bar doesn’t look like a typical business. It looks like a vibe. Like a mood. Like someone pulled up in a spring sunrise, parked it on the curb and started serving flavored Red Bull infusions out the window with a side order of cheer.

That’s just how Sidni likes it.

“One thing that really grinds my gears is how everything is just grayscale now,” she said with a laugh. “It’s like all the colors are being drained from society.” Luckily, she’s doing something about it.

Sidni has lived in Rapid City nearly her entire life, after moving from Illinois when she was three years old. She grew up here, attending Stevens High School before transferring her junior year. Eventually she ended up reconnecting with Trae Hood, a boy she played soccer with as a kid.

“We really did not like each other,” she said emphatically. “We would always be pushing and shoving each other on the field.”

Now, the two have been a couple for a decade and are raising two young boys while juggling careers, family life and business ownership

“My husband’s in law enforcement, he’s a police officer and he’s also in the National Guard. And now I just do The Soda Bar full time,” Sidni explained. It’s a life she loves, but she’ll be the first to explain that the road to pink trailers and dirty sodas wasn’t a straight path.

After high school, she pursued nursing but decided it wasn’t the right fit for her. She later worked at the Pennington County Jail as a booking technician alongside her husband before becoming a 911 dispatcher, a job she still speaks about with deep emotion.

“It was the most fulfilling job I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “I woke up every day excited to go to work.” It was also a job that carried a lot of weight, and remembering those calls, voices and names continues to be an influence to this day. After having children, she transitioned into a more traditional office job, though in hindsight she admits it wasn’t

“ THERE’S A LOT OF SUPPORT THAT SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE IN RAPID CITY, AND WE’RE ALL JUST KIND OF LEANING ON EACH OTHER.”

- SIDNI HOOD

quite right for her. She started a small business doing laser engraving as a creative outlet, which she enjoyed, but something still seemed to be missing.

Then came a blessing in disguise. In March 2025, she was fired from her office. It happened while her husband was away for National Guard training. The next day, her laser engraver died. “Within the same week, I lost both of them,” Sidni said. “I was kind of lost. I got really sad. I didn’t know what to do.”

It didn’t take long for Sidni to find her way. In fact, the idea of creating a new business was already in the air for the Hoods. She had just one condition. “I knew whatever

we did, it needed to be original in Rapid City,” she said. “I wanted to do something that nobody else was doing here.”

In less than a week, she had the idea of bringing dirty sodas to the Black Hills area.

Inspired partly by the Utah soda culture featured in the reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Sidni was fascinated by the dirty soda trend that was booming in other locales. The idea is simple: customizable sodas, lemonades and energy drink infusions mixed with flavored syrups, creams and fruit flavors. Within that simplicity, however, Sidni imagined countless possibilities for fun, tasty drinks.

The result became The Soda Bar, South Dakota’s first mobile dirty soda trailer, proving Rapid City has room for all kinds of bright ideas.

Today, The Soda Bar serves dozens of customizable drink combinations, monthly specialty menus and themed creations like “Spooky Sips” during Halloween and “Whoville Sips” during Christmas events. Sidni enjoys staying creative and is constantly experimenting with new flavors. She even invites followers to submit ideas through her TikTok series “Sips with Sidni,” where she tests new drink combinations to determine whether customers should be “sipping or skipping.”

The dirty sodas are delicious, but The Soda Bar’s popularity goes beyond tasty, creative beverages. For Sidni, the business is rooted in something more valuable than soda; community and connection.

“Idon’tlookatpeopleas customers,”shesaid.“Ilookat themasmybesties.They’remy friends,eveniftheydon’tknow ityet.”

It’s a philosophy that’s embedded in every aspect of the business, from the fun social media posts, to the intentional cheerfulness of the bright pink trailer, and it even includes the simple phrase printed on the back of every cup: “We’re so glad that you’re here.”

For Sidni, that isn’t marketing. It’s meaning. “I’ve lost a lot of friends to suicide,” she said quietly. “I just want everyone to remember that I’m happy that you woke up today, and I’m happy that you’re here.”

For someone who has seen some tough times of her own, and who carries memories from her days answering 911 calls, The Soda Bar, in many ways, is Sidni’s bright pink response to the blues. It’s a cheerful rebellion against gloom, a rolling reminder that small joys are worthwhile. “I want people to feel happy when they approach my trailer,” she said. “I just want to be the little bright spot in someone’s day.”

Operating a mobile business in Rapid City has also given Sidni a front-row seat to the city’s small business community. Early on, she worried that the community might not embrace a new concept like dirty sodas, but she said local support became one of the biggest reasons The Soda Bar succeeded.

“My experience has been that every business was willing to support another small business,” she said. “Everyone was reaching out to me saying, ‘Hey, we have this space available. Feel free to set up.’”

That network extends throughout the city’s growing food truck scene, which Sidni says now includes more than 100 food trucks throughout the Black Hills region. “There’s a lot of support that small businesses have in Rapid City, and we’re all just kind of leaning on each other,” she said.

And somewhere in the middle of all that support, flavored syrups and stacks of 20,000 cheerful cups, Sidni found exactly what she was looking for.

“This was just a little pink dream of mine,” she said laughing. “And now my future is bright.” *

THE SODA BAR RAPID CITY

FIND THEM ON STREETFOODFINDER

&forward thinking STRATEGIC

ANA MARIA KILLION SERVES FOOD WITH A VISION FOR RAPID CITY’S CULINARY FUTURE.

STORY BY KORY LANPHEAR

When Ana Maria Killion wanted to start an authentic Ecuadorian food truck in Rapid City around six years ago, she stumbled on a very inconvenient problem — there wasn’t any place to get the ingredients she required.

“Ecuador is one of the world’s great plantain and banana regions. From the very beginning, my vision was ceviche and plantains, but we didn’t have access to the right fish or proper plantains,” said Ana, chef and owner of Patas Azules Ecuadorian Cuisine. “We connected with suppliers and spoke with absolutely everybody we could to help bring those ingredients here. We didn’t build this supply chain just for ourselves. I’m proud that we helped open this market for future entrepreneurs, making plantains and passion fruit accessible throughout the region.”

Growing up in Ecuador, Ana father’s side of the family owned restaurants, while her maternal grandmother and uncles worked in catering, preparing food for large-scale events and companies.

“Igrewupwatchingpeoplecreate foodfromscratch.Everyvacation formewaspeelingpotatoesor helpinginthekitchen,”

she said. “After my dad retired from the Ecuadorian Air Force, he opened a bakery and I worked with him there, too.”

Her formal education being in data analytics, Ana initially started a different career path. She worked for the national power company in Ecuador, helping develop data models and reporting systems. “A lot of who I am comes from the discipline and training I had growing up — from my father’s military background, my education, and later my professional career,” she

said. “I always learned to think ahead before making decisions.”

That strategic thinking came to inform every detail of her food truck business. Ana and her husband, Brian Killion, electrical engineer and co-owner of Patas Azules, custom designed their trailer together. “We were thinking of the most efficient way to serve the food. So literally, we have a layout of the trailer so everybody's not crossing when we're in a rush,” she said. “Our average ticket time is between three to eight minutes. Why eight minutes? Because I fire-grill the chicken and it's raw, it takes eight minutes to cook.”

Most food trucks rely on generators to power their kitchens, but Patas Azules has a custom power system designed by Brian, which uses solar and a bank of batteries. Not only does this provide for a quieter experience for the customer, it also allows Patas Azules to maintain an unbroken 24/7 cold chain throughout the entire operation — something Ana and Brian consider essential to both food quality and food safety. This is especially important for dishes like their fresh ceviche made with fish sourced from Dakota Seafood, but the same standards apply across the entire menu.

“For us, respecting our customers means maintaining the highest possible standards in freshness, food safety, and consistency at all times,” Ana said.

“PatasAzulesisaforward-thinking andstrategicbusinessbuiltto bringpeoplerealfoodwhile keepingtraditionalive.”

Nothing Patas Azules serves comes from a factory or is pre-made. Everything is prepared from scratch using the best available ingredients.

“I have many customers with serious food sensitivities and allergies, and one of the things that matters most to me is

making them feel safe eating our food, from children to older adults,” Ana said. “We maintain a dedicated gluten-free fryer exclusively for our plantains, and we are extremely careful about preventing cross contamination throughout our operation. Even our empanadas are prepared separately and baked rather than fried in shared oil.”

Ana avoids using seed oils and she grills all of the meats. The spices are prepared by hand, the juices they serve are made from real fruit. Even the name Patas Azules has a special significance — it means blue footed boobie, an aquatic bird frequently found in the Galapagos Islands.

- ANA MARIA KILLION

As a result of her vision, Ana estimates that it sometimes requires 48 hours of preparation for food that can sell out in a mere three hours.

“It’s not an easy job, but we are very happy, because you can see it in people’s faces that they enjoy it,” she said. “I try to create meals that feel nourishing and satisfying without leaving anyone feeling heavy afterward. Every dish carries a sense of warmth and love; sometimes even a quiet prayer goes into the food we prepare, and that is something very beautiful to me.” *

FOOD

FRENZY

The On-The-Go Flavors of Rapid City!

GREEN CHILI SHACK

Jamie Jackson

Burritos, tacos, breakfast, smothered chili

LITTLE TACO BUS

Brian Cripe

Authentic tacos: carne asada, Al Pastor, Birria, Chicken Tinga; burritos, quesadillas-, nachos

OAK BURN BBQ

Josh Mulder

Loaded Pork and hickory bourbon brisket sandwiches

SAUCED

Zeno Rendon

Steak bites, sauced chicken, fries, mac & cheese

TACOS LOS CARNALES

Daniel Avalos

Flavors by Mexico Tipico; tacos, burritos, quesadilla, tortas, nachos, and more

TRUCK

LOUD AMERICAN STEAK TIP TRUCK

Kyle Corkins

Flavors of Loud American Roadhouse: beef tenderloin steak tips

RUTH'S KITCHEN

Boaz Joseph

Home-style Punjabi food

LAGSDIN'S - BY OLD SCHOOL SLIDERS

Jacob Lagsdin

Fresh pressed burgers, fries and cheese curds with a variety of toppings; hot dogs & grilled cheese

MALISSA'S FRYBREAD

Malissa Walters

Frybread, wojapi, walking tacos

CULICHI ROLL

David Avalos

Family of Mexico Tipico; Sinaloastyle sushi and Mexican seafood, sushi, ceviche, and rice bowls

FORK REAL CAFE

David Pearcy

Flavors of Fork Real Café

WINGS-N-THANGS

Jacquie Exner

Boneless and traditional wings, smashburgers, chicken burgers, and brisket

THE JUKEBOX SODA SHOP

Kirk Dalton

Retro dirty sodas, waters, and energy drinks.

ELEVATE RAPID CITY PRO-BUSINESS LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD

Elevate took a position on 12 bills during the 2026 Legislative Session to advocate for the Rapid City business community. This pro-business scorecard reflects the voting record of local legislators on these key issues.

PRO-BUSINESS CHAMPION

Support Elevate’s position

Oppose Elevate’s position

Rep. Mike Derby (34)

Rep. Steve Duffy (32)

Sen. Helene Duhamel (32)

Rep. Trish Ladner (30)

INFRASTRUCTURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Rep. Curt Massie (33) X

Rep. Nicole Uhre-Balk (32)

Rep. Tim Goodwin (30)

Sen. Amber Hulse (30)

Sen. Curt Voight (33)

Sen. Greg Blanc (35)

Taffy Howard (34)

Heather Baxter (34)

Phil Jensen (33)

Tina Mulally (35)

Rep. Tony Randolph (35)

PROPERTY TAXES 2026

Lawmakers considered a long list of proposed changes to the property tax system. We believe a simple scorecard lacks the nuance necessary to explain the potential implications of any given change to the tax structure and so we opted not to include any property tax bills on the scorecard this year.

SENATE BILL 96

SB 96 doesn’t immediately change the tax system. County Commissions will need to take action to pass an ordinance to adopt the 0.5% sales tax increase made allowable by Senate Bill 96. Some counties will choose to do it, others will not.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT RAPID CITY?

There is no disputing that SB 96 will reduce the total tax burden in Pennington County. The total amount of taxes (both sales and property tax) paid by Pennington County residents will be less if SB 96 is adopted. That’s a good thing. On average, residents will have more money in their pockets. However, the

INFRASTRUCTURE

SB 76 // Airport Funding – Passed

Authorize loans from the South Dakota housing infrastructure fund for airport infrastructure.

SB 231 // Water Infrastructure – Passed

Create the water infrastructure development fund to provide an appropriation, to provide for the awarding of grants and loans from the fund for certain rural water projects, and to declare an emergency.

MILITARY

Bill died prior to vote

benefit will not be uniform. By shifting part of the tax burden from property taxes to sales tax, we let tourists and visitors pay more of the total taxes. This is what creates the savings. Inadvertently, by shifting toward more sales tax, we also rely on businesses and renters to carry more of the burden, none of whom will see any kind of tax reduction.

SB 204 // HIFP Loan Limits – Passed

Revise certain criteria for loans from the South Dakota housing infrastructure fund.

HB 1048 // Broadband Funding – Passed

Make an appropriation for the expansion of broadband infrastructure and to declare an emergency.

SB 36 // Wildfire Mitigation – Passed

Authorize certain utilities to establish wildfire mitigation plans and associated liability limitations for wildfire damages.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

HB 1245 // CAPS Local 3rd Penny – Passed

Authorize municipalities to establish a local funding mechanism for capital improvement projects.

SB 228 // TIF Package – Passed

Modify provisions for a tax increment financing district.

HB 1103 // Groundwater Withdrawal – Died

Require that annual withdrawal of groundwater from any groundwater source may not exceed the annual recharge of water to the groundwater source.

SB 63 // Apprenticeship Office – Passed

Establish the state office of apprenticeship within the Department of Labor and Regulation.

MILITARY

SB 130 // EAFB Road Infrastructure – Passed

Make an appropriation for roadway and related infrastructure improvements required because of construction activity at Ellsworth Air Force Base and to declare an emergency.

HB 1041 // Sturgis National Guard

Readiness Center – Passed

Authorize the expansion and renovation of the Sturgis Readiness Center, to make an appropriation, therefor, and to declare an emergency.

HB 1042 // Sturgis National Guard Shop – Passed

Authorize the construction of a National Guard vehicle maintenance shop in Sturgis, to make an appropriation, therefor, and to declare an emergency.