I’m all for raising fees on billboards, especially after you hear how little it costs
to license them a year;
Part of the reason for that surprising contrast is that South Dakota’s billboard permit fees have gone unchanged for 24 years, since 1985. The biggest billboard size allowed in South Dakota is 1,200 square feet, and the annual fee for a billboard of that size is $32.
WTF! No fee increases for 24 years!? I have often said the advertising and marketing business gets off easy in South Dakota (there is no tax on print advertising). Of course the billboard companies are crying;
Not surprisingly, Wall Drug owner Ted Hustead was one of 10 people listed as opponents to the original version of Kirkeby’s billboard-fee increase during the bill’s first legislative hearing.
Several other influential figures also lined up against the bill: Gov. Mike Rounds’ sister, Michele Brich, who lobbied on behalf of the South Dakota Inn Keepers Association; David Owen, who represents the state’s entire business community as president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Dick Gregerson, who not only lobbies for billboard-industry giant Lamar Advertising but also is a member of the state’s Transportation Commission.
Lamar, one of the largest billboard companies in the country, that continues to eat up the little guys is a against a fee increase – SHOCKER!
You have to realize this is a YEARLY FEE, they are virtually paying $.10 a day to have a billboard in SD. That’s it! They want to raise the fee to about $.80 a day. Big whoop! Once again big business skirts paying it’s fair share, and ironically they could pass on to their customers.