Retire the North Dakota Property Tax

ATR ^ | 2011-06-27 | Nathan Lichtman

[92nina]

...North Dakota is doing pretty well. In addition to their massive surplus, they have the lowest jobless rate of any state (and their population has been growing steadily). Personal income has grown 6.9-percent, the highest increase in the nation. Publications like Forbes and USA Today have even wondered what North Dakota’s secret is. With money in the bank, an economy smoothly rolling along, and jobless rates as low as they are, the people are beginning to think that the government can take steps to reduce their burden. A ballot measure has been approved for the primary elections of 2012 which would do just that. Ballot Measure 2 would amend the state constitution to eliminate the state property tax. Currently, the state charges 4.5-percent to homeowners and 5-percent to commercial and agricultural properties. These funds are used as state funds for local needs, like fire stations, road works and parks...

Read more: http://www.atr.org/retire-north-dakota-property-tax-a6286#ixzz1QVp02PeP

[92nina]

"North Dakota is doing pretty well. They don't need their property tax and they are letting the voters decide whether to get rid of it altogether."

Take this article and others I found to the fight to the Libs on their own turf; put the Left on the defensive at at Digg and at Reddit and in Delicious and Stumbleupon

[MeganC]

North Dakota is doing well? Okay, if being under 20 feet of water is doing well then I suppose North Dakota’s doing GREAT!

[92nina]

Your point of realism is understood. Someone studying economics wrote this article though, and economics is the dismal science...

[Last Dakotan]

I’d retire the state income tax too.

[MeganC]

If ND is doing well then, for now, it makes sense to suspend property tax payments for flood victims. And maybe a year from now dispose of it altogether.

[SoldierDad]

With significanat flooding presently in Minot and other towns along the Souris River, I’m not sure the statement that “North Dakota is doing pretty well.” is at this time accurate.

[Wuli]

Maybe the state should check their “rainy day” funds against the flood-recovery needs they will have this year, before they change the tax code.

I am a limited Libertarian, not a Utopian.

I think things like fire departments and local roads and local parks are legitimate functions of local governments. If the state has been operating on one set of assumptions about how those things are funded, then deciding the alternatives should be part of changing how that is done now.

I am in agreement with the idea of getting the funding done locally, which is where funding and control belong. I am just saying one method should not been simply canceled unless there is agreement, and time, for the local authorities to take alternative measures. I hope that has been done as well, in this instance.

[scbison]

As a fomer ND who has recently visited, they are doing great despite the floods, esepcially in western part of the State where oil companies are drilling. Hotel are fully booked up and are builidng new ones in western ND, house prices and rental prices are on their way up. Apartment rents are going up so fast in Dickinson ND, people who have been renting the same place years can’t afford the rent when leases are up. Another sign that job market is great is that fast food restaurants in williston ND are paying people $18/hr because they can’t attract people to work there unless they pay this high wage. Demand for labor is that high.

Since ND is a huge agricultral state and commodites prices are rising, farmers make good money in that area.

Floods are bad but when I was up there, not that many people were complaining, they are all working together to keep water out and are helping those who lost their homes. Needless to say, even though I am haven’t lived the state for 20 years, I feel proud of my home state for their tenacity and optism.. If only the rest of the country could follow their footstopes when crisis hit like this.

[SoldierDad]

My wife was born and raised in Minot. I lived there for 5 years between 1978 and 1983 (USAF). My wife has a lot of family in Minot who have been hard hit by the flooding. She received word today that businesses are gouging people on prices for needed items, such as bottled water. So much for the optimism you mentioned.

While the other parts of the state you listed may be doing well with the oil boom that's going on, those impacted by this current flooding will be facing severe hardship for a long time. A lot of people will be out of work during the recovery phase, which is expected to last for quite some time. How much will the people whose lives have not been disrupted by the flooding be willing to give in order to help those who have lost everything? Time will bring the answer to this question. I have not been in N.D. for over 20 years. Many things have changed over that time, including how much people come together in times of crisis. The people affected are about to find out just how much change has occurred.