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A big “don’t tax” win for credit unions in South Dakota!

BROOKINGS, SD (November 19, 2013) — Jeff Olson, Credit Union Association of the Dakotas (CUAD) VP of Advocacy and Awareness, was in Brookings County South Dakota this morning to attend the County Commission’s meeting.  Being considered by the committee was a Tax Equity Resolution, which is strongly supported by the Bankers Association of South Dakota.  The Resolution, simply put, was aimed at trying to get someone (anyone) to echo the banker’s calls for repeal of the credit union tax exemption.

The resolution was presented to the commission two weeks ago, and today credit unions were given opportunity to respond to the banker’s talking points.  Speaking on behalf of CUAD was Dan Cumbee; CEO Dakotaland FCU, and Jeff Olson.

CUAD provided 30 minutes of testimony, and the bankers were then offered 20 minutes for rebuttal. After the discussion, the commission voted 4 to zero to table the resolution indefinitely.  This is a big win for credit unions!  “The County Commission decided it was not in their realm of responsibility to consider an item that had federal implications” stated Olson.  “Simply put, we made our case that any resolution that the committee would support was an endorsement of one business over another.  By passing the proposed resolution asking congress to repeal the tax exemption for credit unions, they in essence would be taxing 251,000 credit union members in South Dakota” he added.

Olson reported that credit unions showed great support at the meeting, with members and credit union professionals from Sioux Falls FCU, Service First FCU, Dakotaland FCU, and others from Brookings and the surrounding area in attendance.  “Given the fact that the South Dakota banking chair lives and operates a successful bank in Brookings, getting the county commission to kill the resolution is a big win for credit unions and credit union members in South Dakota” concluded Olson.

Chad Moller, Brookings Branch Manager for Dakotaland FCU, says “I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules to come and support Dakotaland FCU and credit unions as a whole this morning at the Brookings County Commission meeting.  I confidently believe if we would not have shown up in the numbers we did this morning, it would have not have gone the way it did.”

Headquartered in Bismarck, ND, the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas (CUAD) is the professional financial trade association serving 75 credit unions in North and South Dakota with assets in excess of $5.5 billion and serving over 461,300 credit union members. For more information about CUAD visit our website at www.cuad.coop.


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