House Defeats Numerous Property Tax Cap Bills

The North Dakota House of Representatives voted to defeat four property tax bills including bills that involved proposals to cap valuations or growth in budgets. These bills were heard last week in the House Finance and Taxation committee and were given Do Not Pass Recommendations. NDACo along with the assistance from county officials testified in opposition to HB 1261, HB 1221, HB 1182 and HB 1390. Rep.Alisa Mitskog summed it up well when carrying the HB 1390 on the floor. "This bill will limit the ability of our local political subdivisions to make decisions which will have a direct impact on the services in our communities. This is a financial burden on the state with a fiscal note of $100 million over the next two bienniums and it impedes local control."  
More detail on those bills can be found on the blog post from January 21st.

Another property tax cap bill had a hearing in the House Finance and Tax Committee. HB 1380 would cap budgets at 3%, with a 66% voter approval that cap could be raised. This cap would also apply to home rule cities and counties. NDACo testified in opposition to this bill. See testimony here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eP6jQ9PAcBjibiFxDmnWWxHpzOM1h0EK

In addition, NDACo provided input on three bills heard Monday in the Senate Finance and Tax committee relating to the farm residence exemption. NDACo provided supportive testimony for SB 2351 which clarifies that the individual who wants the farm residence exemption must provide the information necessary to prove they are eligible for the exemptions. Here is a link to the bill: https://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/66-2019/documents/19-1143-02000.pdf
SB 2360 changes the qualification to 66% of gross income must be from farming income and removes the married income threshold, the proposal would allow the farm residence exemption to be available for all farmers.