How Counties Get Funding Under Our GRT Plan: Ensuring Economic Freedom and Accountability
South Dakotans, I’ve heard your questions about how our Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) plan to end property taxes ensures counties get the funding they need while maintaining economic freedom, accountability, and local control. I’m Jerry Odom, Liberty minded patriot, and I’m here to break it down clearly: our GRT plan is designed to empower counties, not the state, while protecting your liberty from the $954 million property tax burden (SD News Watch, 2021-22). Let’s dive into how counties will collect and manage GRT revenue, why this structure ensures economic freedom and accountability, and how it streamlines the tax process—all while keeping control local. This is our plan, and it only works if we all come together to make it a reality!
How Counties Collect and Manage GRT Revenue
You’ve asked: how do counties get the money under our GRT plan? The answer is straightforward: counties will directly collect the GRT from businesses within their jurisdiction, just as they currently collect various local taxes. The state sets a maximum GRT rate that counties cannot exceed—ensuring consistency and fairness across South Dakota—but the counties themselves handle the collection process. Once collected, the GRT revenue stays with the county to fund local needs like schools, roads, fire departments, and ambulance services, replacing the property taxes that currently burden homeowners.
- State Sets the Rate: The state establishes a low, uniform GRT rate—let’s say 1.5% as a starting point—that applies to business receipts. Counties cannot exceed this rate, preventing runaway tax hikes and ensuring predictability for businesses and residents.
- Counties Collect Locally: Each county collects the GRT from businesses operating within its borders. For example, Custer County businesses will pay their GRT to Custer County, not the state. This keeps the process local, just like sales taxes are collected now.
- Counties Retain Funds: The collected GRT revenue stays with the county to fund local priorities—no “sinking off” to the state. The state’s role is to set the rate and ensure fairness, not to control the funds. South Dakota’s $1.5 billion sales tax revenue (SD Dept of Revenue, 2023) and $109 million surplus (South Dakota Searchlight, 2023) provide a safety net to support counties if needed, but the GRT is your county’s money to manage.
Economic Freedom Through Local Control
Our GRT plan promotes economic freedom by eliminating the regressive property tax and empowering counties to manage their own funds. Property taxes, which hit South Dakotans for $954 million in 2021-22, force families to choose between paying taxes and affording essentials—that’s no small burden! By replacing property taxes with the GRT, we free families from this tax burden while ensuring counties have the revenue they need to operate.
- No More Property Taxes: Counties no longer rely on property taxes, meaning you keep your home without the risk of foreclosure—a direct violation of the Fifth Amendment’s protection against property seizure without just compensation (April 12, 2025).
- Local Decision-Making: Counties decide how to allocate their GRT revenue, whether for schools (like Hot Springs’ $8.3 million budget, Web ID: 10), infrastructure, or emergency services. This keeps control local, where it belongs—liberty means trusting our communities, not the state.
- Economic Growth: With small businesses under $100K paying zero GRT, and farmers benefiting from lower rates (April 14, 2025), our plan encourages entrepreneurship and growth. South Dakota’s low-wage environment attracts businesses (April 5, 2025), and the GRT keeps it that way—no new corporate income taxes to drive them away.
Accountability: Streamlining the Tax Process
We’ve heard concerns about ensuring counties don’t “run away” with your tax money, and our GRT plan builds in accountability through a clear, transparent structure while streamlining the tax process for efficiency:
- State-Set Rate Cap: The state sets a maximum GRT rate that counties cannot exceed, preventing runaway tax hikes. This ensures counties can’t arbitrarily increase rates to fund pet projects—your tax money stays predictable and fair.
- Transparency in Distribution: GRT revenue is collected and managed locally, but the state oversees the process to ensure transparency. Counties must report how they use the funds, and South Dakotans can hold them accountable through local elections and community oversight. Liberty means transparency, not unchecked spending.
- Streamlining Taxes Without Eliminating Services: Our GRT plan eliminates fire department, ambulance, and other tax districts based on real-estate values (April 14, 2025), but this does not mean we’re getting rid of these services! Instead, we’re removing the duplicate property tax system that creates overlapping burdens, consolidating funding into the GRT pool to streamline the tax process. This ensures your money is used efficiently while fire departments, ambulances, and other essential services remain fully funded through the GRT—backed by South Dakota’s $1.5 billion sales tax revenue and $109 million surplus.
Keeping It Local: Liberty Means Community Control
Our GRT plan is all about keeping control local—because liberty starts with our communities, not the state. I’m a family man with a 27-year marriage, fighting for South Dakotans to live free from government overreach (April 12, 2025). The GRT ensures counties like Custer and Hot Springs can fund their priorities without property taxes, while maintaining the autonomy to make decisions that best serve their residents. The state’s role is to set the framework, not to dictate—your county, your money, your control. But this only works if we all get involved to hold our local leaders accountable and push for this change together.
Snarky Commentary: Progressive Socialists Posing as Americans
Progressives love centralizing power—8 million illegal crossings since 2021 (Lamborn, 2023) brought chaos like Tren de Aragua to Aurora, CO (Web ID: 1), while they tax you into the poorhouse with $954 million (SD News Watch)! They’d rather fund their woke disasters than let counties thrive—our GRT plan says no way! Liberty means local control, not socialist schemes—South Dakotans deserve better! #OdomForLiberty #SouthDakotaStrong #TaxReformSD #FreedomFirst
Join the Fight: Make Our GRT Plan a Reality
Our GRT plan is about giving South Dakotans the freedom to keep their homes, support their families, and thrive without oppressive taxes—but it can’t happen without you. I’m presenting this idea because I believe in our shared liberty, but it’s up to all of us to make it a reality. Join me at the Liberty Forum, April 19th, 2:00 PM, First Assembly of God, Rapid City—4 days away—to discuss how we’ll end the $954 million property tax burden and restore liberty for all South Dakotans! Together, we’ll build a South Dakota where freedom reigns—share if you’re with me! #OdomForLiberty #SouthDakotaStrong #TaxReformSD #FreedomFirst