HOUSE APPROVES $100 MILLION IN TAX RELIEF

BISMARCK -- The North Dakota House of Representatives today passed $100 million in tax relief for North Dakota tax payers. The measure delivers $80 million in property tax credits, returns $16 million to married tax payers by eliminating the marriage penalty for many who currently pay it, and adds $3.6 million to the Homestead Tax Credit, a state program that helps low-income seniors pay their property taxes.

If passed by the Senate and signed by Gov. Hoeven, the package will be the first major state tax relief measure passed in North Dakota in 25 years.

“This bill accomplishes one of the major goals shared by Republicans this session: providing meaningful tax relief to the people of North Dakota who have generated the $500 million budget surplus,” House Majority Leader Rick Berg (R-Fargo) said. “This package provides tax relief to young working families, it helps low-income seniors pay their property taxes and remain in their homes, and it distributes property tax relief fairly to all who pay it.”

The measure eliminates the marriage penalty for any married couple that makes less than $63,700. Currently married couples making less than $53,200 are exempt from the marriage penalty.

“By extending the exempt bracket on the marriage tax we are primarily helping the young working married couples who are making the state’s average wage,” Berg said. “That is the right thing to do with some of the surplus.”

The property tax relief will be calculated as a 5.9 percent credit on the amount of property tax people are paying to support schools. Rep. Wes Belter (R-Leonard) said the measure also takes steps toward long-term tax reform. The tax relief package includes two provisions that give taxpayers tools to engage in local taxing decisions.

First, property owners will be notified if their true and full valuation (market value) increases more than 7 percent in one year. Currently, property owners are notified after a 15 percent valuation increase. This bill also makes it easier for people to initiate a referral of an unlimited local mill levy or a mill levy that exceeds the existing state cap.

“Property taxes are probably the most difficult tax for people to understand. Mill levies, taxing districts, tax equalization boards -- these are terms that very few people can relate to,” Belter said. “If taxpayers think local leaders are taxing too much, this bill gives them a tool to initiate a vote on it.”

Berg also emphasized that the state has consistently increased aid to local schools and government.

“The state has increased support for local government and schools by nearly $475 million the last 10 years, and we are continuing the trend this session” Berg said. “The state will deliver more than $100 million in increased funding this session for city and county governments, including more than $80 million for schools.”

Rep. Dave Weiler (R-Bismarck), who has championed tax relief in several sessions, applauded the bill. “This bill makes good on our three promises to save some of the surplus, invest wisely in top priorities, and give some of it back to taxpayers,” Weiler said.