(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Audit catches $530,000 in SD vehicle fee overpayments last year • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2025-05
The state Department of Revenue collected about $530,000 in commercial vehicle fee overcharges affecting more than 11,000 South Dakota vehicles last fiscal year.
The finding was part of a fiscal year 2024 audit report on state government presented to the legislative Government Operations and Audit Committee on Thursday in Pierre.
According to Mike Kogelmann, a state audit manager, the Department of Revenue changed its fee tables on July 1, 2022. Instead of charging a flat $7 additional fee for vehicles registered at over 78,000 pounds, in accordance with state law, the department erroneously charged $7 for every 2,000 pounds over 78,000 pounds.
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“If your vehicle was registered at 79,000 pounds, you paid $7. If your vehicle was registered at 81,000 pounds, you paid $14,” Kogelmann said. “Prior to that, and when the law was implemented, it was always that everything over 78,000 was $7.”
The department corrected its fee table in December last year, Kogelmann said. The average overcharge was $46 per vehicle.
The department did not immediately respond to a question from South Dakota Searchlight asking whether the vehicle owners were refunded for the overpayments.
Kogelmann told lawmakers he was not aware of refunds from the department. He’s also not aware of any law requiring the state or local governments to provide refunds for overpayments.
In an email to South Dakota Searchlight, Kogelmann said the fee tables were not selected for testing for the fiscal year 2023 audit report, which is why the overcharge was not addressed last year. He did not know how many vehicles were overcharged in fiscal year 2023, “but we have no reason to believe it wouldn’t be in the neighborhood” of the 11,000 vehicles overcharged in fiscal year 2024.
Rep. Julie Auch, R-Yankton, said she wants the money repaid.
“Our state enforces laws if taxes aren’t paid,” she said, “but when we overpay we should have the same in return.”
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https://southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/audit-catches-530000-in-sd-vehicle-fee-overpayments-last-year/
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