ENTITLED, An Act to
provide a credit against certain taxes paid by railroads for the replacement
and repair of rail lines and to revise certain provisions regarding the distribution of the assessed
value of a railroad.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section
1.
That chapter
10-28
be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as
follows:
Any publicly operated railroad or railway corporation operating over rail lines located within
this state may claim a credit against the tax levied on such rail lines for amounts that the railroad
or railway corporation has certified as having been expended in the replacement and repair of such
rail lines. Only those expenses of a capital nature may be certified as an expense eligible for a credit
pursuant to this section. The certification required by this section shall be on forms provided by the
Department of Revenue. The labor and material expenses certified pursuant to this section shall be
itemized separately. The credit provided in this section shall be applied proportionally across the
railroad's entire mainline within this state. The credit shall be applied to tax liability over a three-
year period in an amount equal to thirty-three and one-third percent the first year following
certification; thirty-three and one-third percent of such an amount shall carry forward into the
second year following certification; and thirty-three and one-third percent shall carry forward into
the third year following certification. Each year's carryover shall be accumulated as a tax credit with
other years' annual tax credits. No credit may be given for the repair or replacement of railway line
necessitated by washout, fire, or train derailment. If any rail line goes over ten million gross ton
miles per mile annually in a calendar year, the rail line may not receive a credit pursuant to this
section in the following calendar year.
Section
2.
That
§
10-28-16
be amended to read as follows:
10-28-16.
The Department of Revenue shall, on or before the fourth Monday in August, each
year, transmit to the county auditor of each county through which any railroad runs, a statement
showing the length of main track, of main line or lines, and the branches thereof and sidetracks
within such county, and the assessed value based on a statewide formula that weights traffic (ton
miles)
thirty-three and one-third
fifty
percent and miles of track in the county by
sixty-six and
two-thirds
fifty
percent. The county auditor shall then distribute the value to each taxing district
where the line runs on a per mile basis within the county.