Election ‘Pot’pourri

One of my favorite quotes is from 1966 when longtime California state senator Dick Tuck was defeated. His comment to the media was, “The people have spoken, the bastards.” At my age, having been on both losing political teams and winning political teams, I prefer a more gracious approach. On a more cynical note, however,

Read & Share  

City of Minot Requests Land Purchase for Public Works Expansion

The City of Minot Public Works Department is requesting City Council approve purchase of 7.5 acres of land immediately East and adjacent to the existing Public Works complex in Southeast Minot. The item is on tonight’s City Council agenda, and the request is for a budget amendment and purchase agreement approval in the amount of

Read & Share  

Candidate Questionnaire: Sell Minot!

A 28-year-old female medical doctor, finishing her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, has three job offers of equal pay and professional environments: Minot, Duluth, and Billings.

Read & Share  

Candidate Questionnaire: The Property Tax Hero?

Suspend reality for a moment. Instead of the office you are seeking, imagine you are elected Dictator of Minot for a 15-year term.

Read & Share  

Candidate Questionnaire: Levy Taxes or Lobby the Legislature?

How do you vote on the Resolution Against Losing Local Control?

Read & Share  

Subscribe to Today in Minot!

It's the free, easy way to stay informed about what's happening in Minot, and it helps support independent local news and journalism.

The Real Results of Proposed Property Tax Reforms?

The many questions I have asked about the elimination of real estate taxes have not been answered. There are more which were not included in a prior article. Minot has a high percentage of sales tax revenue for obvious reasons. Thanks to the grace of God and industrious citizens, Minot is the regional center for

Read & Share  

This is a Flawed Location for a Transit Center; We Can Do Better!

At tonight’s City Council meeting, the Council will take up the proposed location of a downtown transit center. If you’re not familiar with that idea, that’s a central hub to which all the public transportation routes eventually return. It’s basically a start, and end, and a transfer station to other routes. The location proposed by

Read & Share  

Weighing In for the Battle for Local Control

In 2024, North Dakota voters will probably vote whether or not to eliminate real estate property taxes. It looks like it will be a proxy war between the obvious factions within the North Dakota Republican party. Republicans in recent history have comprised roughly 75% of North Dakota voters. Is the Republican party still the party

Read & Share  

State Increase of Education Funding Advances in Senate

Property taxes are a regular topic at the legislature, and the 2023 session is no different. Yesterday, the Senate advanced two bills that would would hit your property tax bill if successful. Senate Bill 2066 increases the state’s portion of funding K-12 education; it would reduce your school taxes by approximately 16%. And Senate Bill

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum

ND House Passes Bill Raising Property Taxes For Everyone But Non Profits

The ND House passed HB 1438 by a vote of 55-38. The bill extends property tax exemptions for non profit organizations. If passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, the law will allow non-profit organizations to acquire tracts of land up to 50 acres in size and hold them tax-free for up to

Read & Share   sourced from: The Dakotan

Want to give property owners some relief? Give the firefighters back their full funding

There’s lots of talk about how the state can help reduce local property taxes, but they’re usually just shell games that involve taking money from one place and giving it in another. Rob Port argues that’s a great place to start, only in this instance, we should start by talking money originally meant to support

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum

Subscribe to Today in Minot!

It's the free, easy way to stay informed about what's happening in Minot, and it helps support independent local news and journalism.

Property tax frustrations prompt legislative bills

Property taxes are an annual challenge for home owners; they’re a biannual challenge for legislator. Minot Representative Larry Bellew is among those who regularly bring the issue back to the legislature; this year the bill was the same as in the past — restrict local jurisdictions from raising their levies by more than 5% without

Read & Share   sourced from: Minot Daily News

Minot Legislator Proposes Property Tax Credit for Older Residents

It’s impossible to have a legislative session without talking about taxes, and the 2023 session is no exception. It’s always a question of who should pay and how much. And this session, a couple of bills related to property taxes propose for older residents to pay less; one of them is sponsored by Minot Representative

Read & Share   sourced from: InForum

North Dakota lawmakers weigh income, property tax cut bills

The State of North Dakota’s budget surplus is among the reasons Governor Burgum and legislators are signaling tax relief, but there’s no consensus yet on what it should look like. Jack Dura and Jeremy Turley, in a joint news story between The Bismarck Tribune and Forum News Services, have the details on the property tax

Read & Share   sourced from: Bismarck Tribune

Deadline approaches for homestead & disabled veteran tax relief

The deadline to apply for two property tax relief programs is approaching. Jill Schramm has the program details on the Disabled Veteran & Homestead Tax credits at The Minot Daily News.

Read & Share   sourced from: Minot Daily News

(TIF)Tax Increment Financing Simplfied

TIF stands for Tax Increment Financing. In a very simplified way, It works like this. Say you want to put a second-story addition on your one-story house. The second story will add three bedrooms and $100,000 of value to your house. And you know what comes with new value, right? Yep, added taxes. That new

Read & Share