North Dakota Legislature adopts ‘historic' property tax bill on final day of session
The North Dakota House and Senate compromised on a property tax package Friday amounting to a $1,600 primary residence credit, more than triple the amount homeowners receive now.
But one House member said he plans to promote an initiated measure for the November 2026 ballot that would aim to cut taxes for other property types.
House Bill 1176, sponsored by Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, and backed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong, passed on the final day of the session with a unanimous vote in the Senate and 86-4 vote in the House.
Lawmakers identified property tax reform as a top priority for the session after voters initiated a ballot measure last year that sought to eliminate property taxes based on assessed value. Although the measure failed, lawmakers said they heard from voters that they expect property tax cuts in the future.
The bill uses earnings from the state Legacy Fund to pay for the program, with the idea that lawmakers could consider even greater property tax relief in the future as the fund grows. Armstrong's vision is that eventually most homeowners would be on a path to paying zero property taxes.
'This bill provides real relief and real reform for taxpayers,' Armstrong said in a statement Friday. 'It's responsible, affordable and durable. It creates Legacy Fund buy-in, and it's the single most impactful thing we could do for North Dakota citizens this session.'
The legislation also seeks to slow the growth of property tax increases with a 3% cap on how much local governments can increase the taxes annually.
The total amount of property tax relief in the package is estimated at $473 million for 2025-27, Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus said. The bill also includes more money for a disabled veterans tax credit and a renters refund.
'This is truly a landmark bill when it comes to property taxes,' Nathe said after the conference committee agreed on a final version of the bill. 'Probably historic.'
Donnell Preskey, government and public affairs specialist for the North Dakota Association of Counties, said counties were not in favor of the caps, but the bill includes an opt-out provision that would allow residents in a taxing district to vote to be exempted from the caps for four years.
'That's one of the elements we worked really hard to get in there,' Preskey said. She added there are still concerns about what local budgets will look like with 3% caps over the next two years.
She said the association hopes to educate counties on the new property tax rules, how it will impact their budgets and some of the flexibility options available.
The bill also caps how much school districts can raise property taxes. It contains a provision that if the cap on schools forces some districts to drop below the state-mandated local education contribution level, the Department of Public Instruction would administer gap funding to make the districts whole. An additional $30 million is set aside for that gap funding.
Lawmakers removed a so-called 'skin-in-the-game' provision the Senate advanced that would have required homeowners to pay at least 25% of their property tax bill. The Legislature defeated two other property tax proposals that also would have benefited owners of agricultural land, commercial property and centrally assessed properties.
Rep. Scott Louser, R-Minot, sponsored House Bill 1168, a competing property tax bill that would have had the state pay 100% of public school funding as a way to deliver property tax relief. Louser said he plans to advance that proposal through an initiated measure. He said he plans to gather signatures with the goal of getting it on the November ballot.
'I was taught to always fight for what I believe in and, members of the assembly, this may be something you believe in, too,' Louser said.
Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, chairman of the House Finance and Taxation Committee, expressed frustration with the potential ballot measure.
'For a legislator to come on and talk about how he's going to lead a petition because he doesn't like the outcome of the property tax relief that the majority of the assembly decided was the way to go is a bit over the top,' Headland said.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
40 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
The challenger who narrowly lost to GOP Rep. Scott Perry wants another chance to beat him in 2026
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Janelle Stelson, who lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry by barely a percentage point in 2024, will run again in the right-leaning congressional district in Pennsylvania. Stelson, a one-time local TV anchor and personality, mounted a challenge to Perry, the former leader of the hardline House Freedom Caucus . It was designed to sway moderate Republicans , portraying him as an extremist on abortion rights and slamming Perry's votes against Democratic-penned bills that carried benefits for firefighters and veterans. 'The story about Scott Perry just keeps getting worse,' Stelson said in an interview. Stelson called Perry the 'deciding vote' in the House's 218-214 vote on Republicans' tax break and spending cut package that she said would strip Medicaid benefits from thousands of his constituents, possibly shut down rural hospitals and further stretch health care facilities, such as nursing homes. 'This has disastrous, possibly deadly consequences, and Scott Perry did that,' Stelson said. For his part, Perry is already touting the bill's provisions to curb billions of dollars in spending across clean energy , cut spending on the safety-net health care program Medicaid and reduce subsidies to states that offer Medicaid coverage to cover immigrants who may not be here legally. It will, he said in a statement, 'end damaging 'Green New Scam' subsidies, lock in critical and additional reductions in spending' and ramp up efforts to make sure Medicaid benefits are reserved for 'vulnerable Americans and not illegal aliens.' Perry's campaign, meanwhile, has said that Perry's fundraising is its strongest since he's been in Congress, and that the issues that propelled President Donald Trump and Perry to victories in 2024 will still be relevant in 2026. With Washington, D.C., completely controlled by Republicans, recruiting strong House challengers is of the utmost importance for Democrats. They need to flip just three seats nationwide to retake the House majority they lost in 2022 and block Trump's agenda. Stelson lost in a damaging 2024 election for the Democratic Party, despite outspending Perry in a race that cost over $24 million, according to FEC filings. It wasn't one of the most expensive House races in the nation, but Perry's victory of slightly over 1% point made it one of the closest. Democrats took heart that Perry ran well behind Trump — by 4 points — in a district that is becoming more moderate with Harrisburg's fast-developing suburbs. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won the district in 2022's gubernatorial race, when he blew out his Republican opponent. Shapiro will lead Pennsylvania's ticket again in 2026, and is supporting Stelson by headlining a fundraiser for her in the coming days. Shapiro's support could ward off a potential primary challenger to Stelson. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at: Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
The challenger who narrowly lost to GOP Rep. Scott Perry wants another chance to beat him in 2026
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Janelle Stelson, who lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry by barely a percentage point in 2024, will run again in the right-leaning congressional district in Pennsylvania. Stelson, a one-time local TV anchor and personality, mounted a challenge to Perry, the former leader of the hardline House Freedom Caucus. It was designed to sway moderate Republicans, portraying him as an extremist on abortion rights and slamming Perry's votes against Democratic-penned bills that carried benefits for firefighters and veterans. "The story about Scott Perry just keeps getting worse," Stelson said in an interview. Stelson called Perry the 'deciding vote' in the House's 218-214 vote on Republicans' tax break and spending cut package that she said would strip Medicaid benefits from thousands of his constituents, possibly shut down rural hospitals and further stretch health care facilities, such as nursing homes. 'This has disastrous, possibly deadly consequences, and Scott Perry did that,' Stelson said. For his part, Perry is already touting the bill's provisions to curb billions of dollars in spending across clean energy, cut spending on the safety-net health care program Medicaid and reduce subsidies to states that offer Medicaid coverage to cover immigrants who may not be here legally. It will, he said in a statement, 'end damaging 'Green New Scam' subsidies, lock in critical and additional reductions in spending" and ramp up efforts to make sure Medicaid benefits are reserved for 'vulnerable Americans and not illegal aliens.' Perry's campaign, meanwhile, has said that Perry's fundraising is its strongest since he's been in Congress, and that the issues that propelled President Donald Trump and Perry to victories in 2024 will still be relevant in 2026. With Washington, D.C., completely controlled by Republicans, recruiting strong House challengers is of the utmost importance for Democrats. They need to flip just three seats nationwide to retake the House majority they lost in 2022 and block Trump's agenda. Stelson lost in a damaging 2024 election for the Democratic Party, despite outspending Perry in a race that cost over $24 million, according to FEC filings. It wasn't one of the most expensive House races in the nation, but Perry's victory of slightly over 1% point made it one of the closest. Democrats took heart that Perry ran well behind Trump — by 4 points — in a district that is becoming more moderate with Harrisburg's fast-developing suburbs. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won the district in 2022's gubernatorial race, when he blew out his Republican opponent. Shapiro will lead Pennsylvania's ticket again in 2026, and is supporting Stelson by headlining a fundraiser for her in the coming days.
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
House Democrat floats radical solution to Congress' age problem
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is proposing something unprecedented: Having Congress' ethics office effectively adjudicate whether lawmakers are too cognitively impaired to do their jobs. Why it matters: The 36-year-old Washington Democrat is publicly calling out a dynamic many of her colleagues refuse to even address — arguing Congress' aging membership is damaging the credibility of the whole institution. Gluesenkamp Perez, an auto shop owner who had never held public office before being elected to Congress in 2022, has built a brand calling out what she says is a disconnect between Washington, D.C., and everyday Americans. The age issue, she told Axios in an interview at her Capitol Hill office, is just another facet of that dissonance. "What I've heard from my neighbors, my community is this idea that this place is being run by a bunch of staffers," she said. "And we're seeing a very real decline in confidence in Congress." Driving the news: Gluesenkamp Perez tried last month to get her proposal attached as an amendment to the House Appropriations Committee's bill funding Congress for the next year. The amendment would require the Office of Congressional Conduct to create a standard to determine members' "ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment." That would open the door to ethics investigations into whether a member is mentally incapacitated to the point it is damaging to the House's credibility. Ethics investigations can result in a wide array of consequences, ranging from warnings and fines to — in the case of former Rep. George Santos — the House voting for expulsion. Zoom in: The amendment failed in an overwhelming voice vote, with few if any members of the Appropriations Committee voting for it — a show of just how taboo the topic is. Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the chair and ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee, both spoke in opposition to it. Valadao acknowledged "a lot of concern with some of our colleagues sometimes when we see some of their comments," but argued that the House's bi-annual elections are a sufficient referendum on lawmakers' fitness for office. What they're saying: "It's not a comfortable thing to think about time being irreversible and how our lives change, but ... real respect for our communities and the body here is [being] willing to have these honest, candid and difficult conversations," Gluesenkamp Perez told Axios. She said the disastrous debate performance that led former President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election raised "serious concerns" in her district "that it was not their elected representatives calling the shots." Gluesenkamp Perez said that while she also supports term limits, her proposal would allow Congress to "impartially evaluate these questions" while maintaining a "representative body of all ages and experiences." Zoom out: There have been numerous examples in recent years of lawmakers in their 70s and 80s facing painfully public cognitive decline. Sen. Dianne Feinstein 's (D-Calif.) health and declining mental capabilities were a source of continued heartburn for Democrats in the years leading up to her death at 90 years old in 2023. Former Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), a former Appropriations Committee chair, was revealed last year to have been checked into an independent living facility with 6 months left in her term. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is the latest lawmaker whose decline has been the subject of continued headlines, with the 88-year-old's office repeatedly walking back quotes she gives to reporters. The bottom line: Gluesenkamp Perez plans to continue her efforts and try to build support among her colleagues, telling Axios, "It's clear people want systemic reform. They want accountability."
