Assessment Freeze for the Elderly & Disabled | South Dakota
Historical reference for South Dakota’s 2026 Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled application cycle.
Assessment Freeze for the Elderly & Disabled | South Dakota
South Dakota’s Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled is a property-tax relief program administered by the South Dakota Department of Revenue. It prevents a qualifying homeowner’s property from increasing in value for tax purposes. When a home’s value rises, an approved homeowner pays tax on the former lower value rather than the newer value, subject to the program rules.
This page is a historical reference for the 2026 application cycle. The Department of Revenue announced that applications for that cycle were due to the local county treasurer by April 1, 2026. That deadline has passed. The official material reviewed for this update does not publish a later application date, so this page does not present the program as open or invent a date for a future round. Check the Department of Revenue’s relief-programs page and your county treasurer for the next application instructions when they are released.
2026 cycle at a glance
| Item | Official 2026 information |
|---|---|
| Program | Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled |
| Status | Historical reference; the 2026 filing deadline has passed |
| Closed-cycle deadline | April 1, 2026 |
| Administrator | South Dakota Department of Revenue, with applications submitted to the local county treasurer |
| Benefit | Prevents the qualifying property assessment from increasing for tax purposes |
| Single-member household income limit | Less than $56,595 |
| Multiple-member household income limit | Less than $66,885, counting all household members’ income |
| Full-and-true-value limit | $514,500; a property at or above that value is not eligible unless the applicant received the freeze on the property in a prior year |
| Application form | PT 38, available through the DOR or a county treasurer |
The income limits apply to applications received under the published program material and are based on the previous calendar year’s income. The DOR brochure defines income as federal adjusted gross income plus other income, including Social Security payments. A household should use the instructions on the applicable form and ask the county treasurer how to document an unusual income situation.
What the freeze does
The program reduces the assessed value used for property-tax purposes. It is not a cash payment, a refund check, or a promise that the entire tax bill will stay unchanged. The property covered by the program is the house, its garage, and the lot on which it sits, or one acre, whichever is less.
If the home’s market value increases after an applicant qualifies, the tax calculation can continue to use the former lower value under the freeze. That can reduce the effect of a valuation increase on the homeowner’s property-tax calculation. It does not mean that all property taxes disappear, and it does not stop every factor that can affect a tax bill. Local levies and other tax rules remain separate questions for the county.
The published benefit is tied to the qualifying property and the applicant’s continuing eligibility. A sale, transfer, change in occupancy, or other change in the facts can affect the freeze. The DOR’s official program description should control any question about a specific ownership arrangement or a surviving spouse.
Who qualified for the 2026 cycle
The DOR’s 2026 announcement and PT 38 application page identify several requirements. Meeting one requirement alone is not enough; the age or disability condition, household and property limits, ownership and residency conditions, and occupancy condition all matter.
Age or disability
The applicant had to be 65 years of age or older, or disabled as defined by the Social Security Act. The program page does not replace that standard with a general hardship test. Someone who believes a disability qualifies should use the form’s instructions and ask the county treasurer what supporting evidence is needed.
Ownership, occupancy, and South Dakota residency
The applicant had to be an owner of an owner-occupied single-family dwelling and a resident of South Dakota for five years, unless the assessment freeze had been received in the previous year. The exception is important for renewal situations: a person who already received the freeze in the previous year is not evaluated under the same five-year entry condition described for a new applicant.
The applicant also had to have resided in the house for at least 200 days during the previous calendar year. This is a home-specific occupancy rule, not merely a statement that the applicant lives somewhere in South Dakota. A person with a second home, an extended absence, or a complicated ownership arrangement should clarify the facts with the county treasurer before relying on eligibility.
Unremarried surviving spouses of people who previously qualified may still qualify in some circumstances. That does not remove the other requirements. The surviving spouse should ask the county treasurer to review the particular property and household facts rather than assuming the freeze transfers automatically.
Income
For the 2026 cycle, the DOR published an income limit of less than $56,595 for a single-member household, meaning only one person in the household. The limit for a multiple-member household was less than $66,885, with income from all members included. The DOR brochure says the limits are based on income from the previous calendar year and that income includes federal adjusted gross income plus other income, including Social Security payments.
That definition is broader than a quick check of wages or a taxable-income line. Applicants should gather the income information the PT 38 form requests for every household member and avoid assuming that a payment can be ignored because it is not treated like wages. If the household composition changed, the applicant should describe the current household accurately and ask the county treasurer how the form applies.
Property value
The 2026 program valuation limit was $514,500 of full and true value. A property with a full and true market value of $514,500 or more was not eligible unless the applicant had received the assessment freeze on that property in a prior year. The relevant figure is the county’s full-and-true value, not a homeowner’s estimate of what the property might sell for or the amount remaining on a mortgage.
Because the limit contains a prior-qualification exception, an existing participant should not assume that a value at or above the general threshold has the same result as a first-time application. The county treasurer can explain how the exception applies to the property’s records.
How the 2026 application worked
The process was annual. Applications became available in January through a county treasurer’s office or the DOR’s property-tax relief materials, and the completed application had to reach the local county treasurer on or before April 1. The 2026 deadline was April 1, 2026.
1. Start with the official PT 38 form
The DOR provides the Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled form, known as PT 38, online. A paper copy was also available from a county treasurer’s office. The online page says the form can be filled in and then printed with the entered information. It also makes an important distinction: the form cannot be signed and submitted electronically. An applicant therefore needed to print, sign, and follow the delivery instructions for the local county treasurer rather than treating the web form as an online filing portal.
2. Check the property and household facts
Before completing the form, the applicant should confirm the property’s full-and-true value, the ownership and owner-occupied status, the South Dakota residency history, and the number of days lived in the home during the previous calendar year. The applicant should also calculate household income using the form’s instructions and include Social Security and other income categories identified by the DOR brochure.
3. Prepare supporting information
The county treasurer is the local office identified by DOR for questions and submission. The form and office can tell an applicant which evidence is needed for the particular application. In practical terms, an applicant should have accurate information about age or disability, ownership, the parcel and dwelling, household members, and previous-calendar-year income available before signing. Keeping a copy of the completed PT 38 and any delivery confirmation is sensible because the program is tied to a specific annual filing.
4. Submit the signed form to the county treasurer
The completed form had to be submitted annually to the applicant’s local county treasurer on or before April 1. The county treasurer, rather than the DOR’s online form page, was the filing destination. Applicants with questions about a life estate, surviving-spouse situation, prior qualification, property value, or missing information should contact that office before submitting.
5. Treat the 2026 deadline as closed
The DOR’s March 2026 announcement gave April 1, 2026 as the deadline. Since that date has passed, a person seeking relief for a later cycle should not use this page as proof that a filing window is open. The next cycle’s date and any revised income or valuation limits should come from a new DOR notice, the updated PT 38 materials, or the county treasurer. Until that information is published, this entry remains an archive of the confirmed 2026 rules.
Questions the official material answers
Does the program freeze the entire tax bill?
No. The program prevents the qualifying property from increasing in value for tax purposes. It does not describe a total exemption from property tax, and it does not guarantee that every part of a bill remains unchanged.
Is the benefit a payment to the homeowner?
No. The benefit is a lower value used for the property-tax calculation. It is different from a tax refund program and should not be described as money paid directly to the applicant.
Can someone apply through the website and skip the county treasurer?
No. The DOR makes the PT 38 available online, but the form page says it must be printed and cannot be signed and submitted electronically. The completed application goes to the local county treasurer.
Does a person need to live in the home all year?
The published requirement is residence in the house for at least 200 days during the previous calendar year. Anyone whose occupancy is complicated should ask the county treasurer how to document the situation.
Does the five-year rule apply in exactly the same way to a renewal?
The DOR says the five-year South Dakota residency and ownership condition has an exception when the assessment freeze was received in the previous year. A renewal applicant should use the current form and confirm the record with the county office.
What if the applicant is an unremarried surviving spouse?
The official material says an unremarried surviving spouse of a person previously qualified may still qualify in some circumstances. The phrase “may” matters: the remaining program conditions still need to be satisfied.
Official sources
- South Dakota Department of Revenue: Relief Programs — program description and application instructions.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue: 2026 Assessment Freeze announcement — 2026 deadline, income limits, valuation limit, and eligibility summary.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue: PT 38 form — online form access, county-treasurer submission, and electronic-signature limitation.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue: Freeze on Assessments brochure — program benefit, property definition, income method, and 2026 limits.
Bottom line
The confirmed 2026 Assessment Freeze cycle was for qualifying elderly or disabled South Dakota homeowners who met the ownership, residency, occupancy, income, and property-value requirements. It used a deadline of April 1, 2026, and required an annual application to the local county treasurer. The cycle is closed, and no later official application date is published in the sources reviewed here. Use the DOR program page and county treasurer as the authority for the next round rather than relying on the closed-cycle date or on older guidance.