Setting a budget for the coming year will likely dominate City Council discussions locally and statewide in the coming weeks and months. Department heads and local organizations are currently making their case for ongoing financial support or allowances in meetings as decisions for next year have to be made.
But it’s a challenging time for local governments to project what next year’s budget might look like as a statewide initiative potentially threatens to gut the revenue communities across the state rely on through sales taxes.
“IM28 is a big discussion for cities right now,” said Cohl Turnquist, City Administrator in Flandreau, to the Moody County Enterprise. A discussion on the initiated measure was presented before the local City Council this past week.
Initiated Measure 28, scheduled to be on the November ballot and decided on by voters, would prohibit a state sales tax on anything sold for human consumption, except alcoholic beverages or prepared food.
The initiative defines prepared food as food that is sold heated or with utensils, but there are still many unanswered questions as to what might fall under the measure. Under Initiative Measure 28, local governments would not be prohibited from levying a tax, but there are major concerns about how the measure is worded and what the ultimate impact might be.
City and town officials statewide believe the measure will eliminate tax dollars traditionally used for the upkeep and maintenance of roads, infrastructure, and necessities, let alone all of the requests that come in annually from organizations, entities, and initiatives each community might want to support and grow.
Proponents of the measure believe it is fair and overdue, as it eliminates a tax on some of those that can’t afford it most. A majority of other states across the nation have eliminated the tax.
Opponents worry that basic services will be cut because there won’t be funds available, or if they are to remain available, they’ll have to come through another source.

That likely source, some say, would be a new income tax.
As of 2024, South Dakota had a 4.2% sales and use tax, which applies to groceries. South Dakota allows cities to establish an additional 2% sales tax. In 2023, the South Dakota State Legislature reduced the statewide sales tax from 4.5% to 4.2% for four years.
The Municipal League is spearheading an effort to get communities to sign onto a resolution strongly opposing IM28.
Flandreau’s City Council considered the resolution this past week but tabled the discussion until council members had more time to research IM28 and gather more information.
“We’re waiting. Right now, there is no rush, but at the same time, if this goes into effect in the full interpretation of the phrasing of human consumption, it will gut the entire state. Half the state’s sales tax revenue will be gone,” Turnquist said.
“I didn’t try to sway (Council) one way or the other, but I did tell them if it does pass, it will have an impact.”
More on the individual requests being made of the Council on budget items on page ??. There will also be further discussion on community subsidy requests, along with other 2025 budget requests, at a Flandreau City Budget Workshop on August 14, at 5:30 p.m.
The first reading of the 2025 Appropriation Ordinance will take place at the first council meeting in September.
Also heard at the most recent meeting of the Flandreau City Council:
● A public hearing on Resolution 2024-09, which is intended to dedicate space for a new community Early Childhood Learning Center adjacent to the Armory and Flandreau Public Schools. With no public input, the motion passed.
● An update on cleaning up nuisance properties in town.
● Reminders; that a representative from First District will be at the August 19 meeting to report to council members on proposed updates to the zoning ordinances; that the city’s water towers will be having routine cleaning and maintenance done between August 12 and August 20 and residents could experience low water pressure during that time; and that the city is looking for volunteers who would like to be on the Cemetery Committee.
City Council members were also asked for a letter of support regarding an extended bike and pedestrian path project by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. The project would be in conjunction with a new bridge to be built across the Big Sioux River on Crescent Street from downtown toward the Flandreau Indian School. The hope is that an extension to the bike path could also stretch from Tribal lands on the southern edge of town, north to the powwow grounds.
More on the bike path proposal and new Crescent Street Bridge in an upcoming edition of the Moody County Enterprise.