House Taxation Advances Tax Exemption for Educational Buildings

Tuesday morning, members of the House Taxation committee advanced a bill that allows a tax exemption for certain buildings used for educational purposes. Senate Bill 199 was brought forward by electricians in Rapid City and Sioux Falls who say portions of their buildings used specifically for training have been tax exempt for years. Randy Stainbrook with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says in 2012, a tax assessor didn’t think part of the Rapid City training facility met the standards for a tax exemption. Stainbrook says electricians who train at the three facilities in the state go through extensive learning and certification.
 
“Our training centers are very elaborate centers, we’re always upgrading them. In Rapid City, we’re in the process now of completely gutting one section of our training facility so that we can add in the new technology that’s out there: photo voltaics, solar energy, wind energy, those types of things. We add that into the lab as it becomes more prominent. We’re always changing the basics of our training centers, upgrading them to the best that they can be,” Stainbrook says.
 
Stainbrook says the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers partners with the National Electrical Contractors Association to run the Dakotas Joint Apprenticeship and Training. Apprenticeship or training programs must been accredited or approved by the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training within the United States Department of Labor to qualify as education services. The legislation now moves to the full House.