This bill amends existing legislation regarding the registration fees for drones in South Dakota and establishes a dedicated fund to support drone aviation. It modifies the current registration tax structure by specifying that an original registration tax of four percent is applicable to all aircraft except drones, which will have a separate tax rate. For drones, the bill sets the registration tax at one and one-half percent for those used exclusively for agricultural purposes and two percent for all other drones. Additionally, it establishes that the registration tax collected for drones will be directed to a newly created drone aviation fund.

The bill also outlines penalties for failure to pay the registration tax, maintaining that such failure within thirty days is a Class 2 misdemeanor, while failure to pay within ninety days incurs a civil penalty. The newly created drone aviation fund will be administered by the Board of Technical Education, which will use the funds to award grants for training in drone aviation at technical colleges in the state. The bill further allows the commission to create rules for the assessment and collection of the drone registration tax.

Statutes affected:
Introduced, 01/29/2026: 50-11-19