02/27/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shannon Rittberger, Equalization Director Phone: 605-394-2175
Email: [email protected] February 26, 2024
2024 PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS, APPEAL PROCESS, AND LOCAL REAL
ESTATE MARKET
Mr. Shannon Rittberger, Pennington County Director of Equalization, is offering the following
information to summarize the 2024 property assessment changes, to describe the local real estate
market, and to inform property owners of the process to appeal assessments.
Property owners should receive assessment notices in the mail around March 1st. The assessment
notice informs a property owner of property assessed in their name, the assessed value of that
property, and the classification for property tax purposes. Property taxes will be determined by
the Boards of the taxing entities as they meet this summer, and the resulting taxes on these
assessments will come due next year. It is important to understand higher assessments do not
directly result in higher tax bills.
South Dakota state law requires that property be assessed at full market value. Property owners
should review the assessment notice to determine if their property is assessed at what value it
could be sold. If a property owner thinks a property is assessed for more than market value, they
can file an appeal with a Board of Equalization. Instructions on the appeal process and the
deadlines can be found on the back of the assessment notice. All assessment information,
including sale prices of sold properties, can be found on the County’s website at
www.pennco.org/equalization and on RapidMap at www.rapidmap.org.
The assessment date for the 2024 assessment is November 1st of 2023. The Pennington County
real estate market continued to increase through 2023, although at a slower rate than previous
years. Assessed values are higher for 2024, but approximately 75% increased less than 10% over
last year. Larger assessment increases of up to 20% are in areas of Western Pennington County,
which remain the stronger locations in the real estate market.
Staff in the Equalization Office are ready and happy to answer questions, review accuracy of
property data, meet with property owners, and review property sales information. The
Equalization Office can be reached during regular business hours of 7:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m.
Monday through Thursday at (605) 394-2175
The function of the office of the Equalization Department is to annually assess all taxable real property in Pennington County for property tax purposes. This office is responsible for the accurate assessment and inventory of approximately 56,000 parcels of property with a value of over $17 bil...