BROOKINGS COUNTY (10-20-26) — Brookings Radio and the Brookings Beacon now continue Election 2026 coverage. This week, we profile candidates for Brookings County Commission.
Larry Jensen is an incumbent county commissioner seeking re-election.
When it comes to the 765-kilovolt power line proposed for Brookings County, Jensen said he’d prefer projects like that not take up valuable ag land… “I don’t really agree with using prime farm ground to locate these power lines. I’d rather see if they could at least be in the marginal ground — say CRP or the pasture land.”
He said he and the other commissioners have been very open to hearing testimony from both sides of the 765-kilovolt power line… “The safety concerns, like I said in our forum last Saturday, we hear a lot of testimony from experts that they basically contradict themselves and we have to kind of decide where we stand. It’s a thankless job, but it’s a decision you have to eventually come up with.”
Jensen said he’s also not in favor of implementing Senate Bill 96 in Brookings County — that’s the optional half-cent sales tax counties can use to lower homeowner property taxes… “This is just a tax shift. As we went through the numbers — the estimates — about anywhere from between 50 and 60 percent of the housing in Brookings County is owner-occupied, and that’s the group that would benefit from this tax. Not everybody would benefit from it. Like your question states, your students and your elderly — everybody would be paying for the tax break on 60 percent on the housing. We held an open house and we had people come in and give their opinions. There was not a single person that came in and supported tis tax.”
Three, four-year seats on the Brookings County Commission are up for grabs.
The complete interview with Larry Jensen is posted at https://www.brookingsradio.com/news/interview-brookings-county-commission-candidate-larry-jensen/. The Brookings Beacon will publish transcripts from the county candidate interviews in Wednesday’s edition.
Election day is November 3.
— Brookings Radio News
