North Dakota initiative to prohibit property taxes certified to appear on Nov. ballot

North Dakota voters will decide on a ballot initiative in Nov. 2024 to prohibit property taxes, except those used to pay for bond debt.

End Unfair Property Tax, the campaign supporting the measure, submitted around 41,000 to the secretary of state’s office on June 28, 2024. On Aug. 2, Secretary of State John Thurston certified that 35,720 signatures were valid. To qualify for the ballot, 31,164 were required.

The ballot initiative would also limit the debt of a political subdivision (such as counties, cities, and towns) to 2.5% of the value of real property in the subdivision. The governing bodies of incorporated cities would be able to raise the debt limit to 4% through a two-thirds supermajority vote and school districts would be able to raise the debt limit to 5% through a simple majority vote. Cities would be able to become indebted by an additional 2% for water and sewer projects. A political subdivision would not be able to issue general obligation bonds to be paid back through property taxes after January 1, 2025.

The initiative was sponsored by former Rep. Rick Becker (R). Becker said, “Many people, including myself, believe that amongst the taxes, property tax is a fairly immoral tax. Private property is the foundation of a free society. The ability for the government to take away something that you should rightfully own is improper. I’m shocked at how much property tax is going up this year. It’s just crazy to me. Let’s call it wasteful unnecessary spending. We have a chance to take that away from state legislators and convert it to actual tax relief for citizens by eliminating the property tax.”

Keep it Local ND opposes the ballot initiative. The organization stated, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is; this measure would be detrimental to our economy, our citizens, and our state as a whole. There is no well vetted plan to make up the estimated $1.329 billion per year to cover property taxes to fund essential services. Let’s fight to keep control local; the state legislature has no business deciding what our cities and our counties need.”

Opponents of the measure include the North Dakota Fire Chiefs Association, School Board Association, Sheriffs and Deputies Association, EMS Association, the North Dakota AFL-CIO, the Greater North Dakota Chamber, the North Dakota Farmers Union, and the North Dakota League of Cities.

The initiative is the fourth measure to be certified for the November ballot. Three constitutional changes that were referred to the ballot by the state legislature would do the following:

Measure 1: Amend language used in the state constitution to describe certain state institutions such as changing “insane” to “individuals with mental illness”, “feebleminded” to “individuals with developmental disabilities”, and “deaf and dumb” to “deaf and hard of hearing”;

Measure 2: Establish a single-subject rule for initiatives; increase the signature requirement for constitutional initiatives; and require constitutional initiatives to be approved at two elections; and

Measure 3: Change the requirements for transfers from the state legacy fund, which receives 30% of tax revenue from oil and gas production.

Signatures were also submitted for an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. The secretary of state has until Aug. 12 to validate signatures.