Property Tax Petition

Are you in favor of eliminating property taxes?

  • Yes

    Votes: 113 73.9%
  • No

    Votes: 40 26.1%

  • Total voters
    153

bravo

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Posts
732
Likes
630
Points
270
You say I have blinders on but you are the one not able to comprehend or communicate. I live in in one of the highest tax areas in the state. I voted no. I want to see a sustainable relief plan that doesn’t starve essential services or require new annual specials or levies. I think putting a large amount on primary residence as “hands off” by law accomplishes that.

What is a tax freeze increase? What zoning enforcement? I proposed changing the way assessment is done, read again.
 


Twitch

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 14, 2015
Posts
2,552
Likes
600
Points
368
Location
Mandan
You guys don’t have to fight about it anymore….I’m sure they’ll fix it all by next time. This 65% vote proved the people aren’t happy with the current system and sent a message if we don’t get tax relief they will be held to account ...rofl...
 

bravo

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Posts
732
Likes
630
Points
270
I'm not trying to fight, I'm trying to figure out where lunk is coming from.
 


Obi-Wan

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Posts
8,886
Likes
5,594
Points
933
Location
Bismarck
A tax freeze increase sounds like one is trying to outlaw inflation.

That's some brilliance right there.
if inflation is 3-5 % why does ones property tax go up 10 - 20 %. Rarely does anyone get a 10 - 20% raise. why should owners have to tighten their belt to pay the taxes but governments get to pad their budgets which leads to wasteful spending. It is a known fact that if an agency does not spend their budget the will see a reduced but the next year. every year we have agency wanting to do work because they have left over money in their budgets and say they need to spend it or lose it.
 

lunkerslayer

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Posts
20,560
Likes
4,691
Points
883
Location
Cavalier, ND
https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/property-tax-relief-reform-options/#:~:text=Rate limits are intended to,or even freeze rates outright.
Rate limits are intended to restrict consciously adopted tax increases, limiting the authority of local government officials to adopt a tax increase. They may cap the amount of a rate increase in a given year, establish a maximum allowable rate, require voter authorization to raise taxes, or even freeze rates outright. Under rate caps, collections can rise unimpeded if property values grow or if new construction is added to the property tax rolls, but policymakers are constrained in their ability to increase millages on those properties.
 


Fester

★★★★★ Legendary Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Posts
1,646
Likes
1,475
Points
413
Location
Space
You guys don’t have to fight about it anymore….I’m sure they’ll fix it all by next time. This 65% vote proved the people aren’t happy with the current system and sent a message if we don’t get tax relief they will be held to account ...rofl...
Hahaha like measure 2 did?
 

Bacon

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 14, 2015
Posts
1,245
Likes
158
Points
248
Location
Napoleon
Easy solution. Freeze the tax evaluation at what you paid for the property. If you want to buy a $600,000 house then you can pay taxes on that. Why should some elderly people pay a tax evaluation on a property they have bought and paid for that was purchased for $80,000 and now some pointy head says it’s worth $300,000 so they pay tax on that. It’s stupid. If there is a short fall in revenue, the govt can tighten there belts instead of coming up with pet projects no one wants. I know it’s wishful thinking but a normal business has to cut spending when the income is short. Why is govt different.
 

lunkerslayer

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Posts
20,560
Likes
4,691
Points
883
Location
Cavalier, ND
Easy solution. Freeze the tax evaluation at what you paid for the property. If you want to buy a $600,000 house then you can pay taxes on that. Why should some elderly people pay a tax evaluation on a property they have bought and paid for that was purchased for $80,000 and now some pointy head says it’s worth $300,000 so they pay tax on that. It’s stupid. If there is a short fall in revenue, the govt can tighten there belts instead of coming up with pet projects no one wants. I know it’s wishful thinking but a normal business has to cut spending when the income is short. Why is govt different.
That's done all the time in new developments to get people to buy homes, even some local towns like for example:after the flood the city of grand forks had a deal on home buying were if you paid on the loan for so many years the loan was forgiven. I'm not sure what exactly but I know that grand forks loss a lot of residents after rhe flood and the town was full of for sale signs throughout the neighborhoods. Grand Forks needed to get those homes sold especially when many were bought out by the city or insurance companies.
So yeah there are lots of ways to help keep the price of property taxes from going up but did you guys actually believe that north dakota would do away with property taxes which would have been the only one. Cmon man
 

powerman

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
559
Likes
43
Points
178
Location
ND
Yes it is another tax, but spreading it out amongst everyone who purchases in Bismarck mandan sounds better to me than sticking it on property tax
 


Fester

★★★★★ Legendary Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2018
Posts
1,646
Likes
1,475
Points
413
Location
Space
Yes it is another tax, but spreading it out amongst everyone who purchases in Bismarck mandan sounds better to me than sticking it on property tax
Its already on property..well according to anti measure 4 people.. ha
 

Allen

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
10,977
Likes
2,168
Points
758
Location
Lincoln, kinda...
if inflation is 3-5 % why does ones property tax go up 10 - 20 %. Rarely does anyone get a 10 - 20% raise. why should owners have to tighten their belt to pay the taxes but governments get to pad their budgets which leads to wasteful spending. It is a known fact that if an agency does not spend their budget the will see a reduced but the next year. every year we have agency wanting to do work because they have left over money in their budgets and say they need to spend it or lose it.

Property tax bills are quite different from one area to another. I personally wouldn't want to live in a fast growing city (Bismarck, Fargo, Watford, Williston, Dickinson, Lincoln, Kindred, etc), nor would I want to live in a town that was recently ravaged by a natural disaster, such as a flood. Those are recipes for a fast rising tax bill.

My property tax bill has not been rising as fast as many have shown on here, but my taxing district hasn't really had a great natural disaster, nor does it provide the same level of services as those in the higher taxed areas. I also do not live in a community with near unchecked growth that is requiring multi-million dollar solutions to city sewer and water. All that stuff costs money.

You don't like your property taxes, look into moving somewhere that doesn't have the level of services provided to your current address.

As I understand things, you have suggested a number of times that you are a contractor that does work for property tax collecting entities. What are you seeing on your end for the cost of services provided? Have you compared and contrasted the rise in costs for services you provide to that of your property tax bill? Not trying to pick on you here, I am legit curious.
 

Obi-Wan

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Posts
8,886
Likes
5,594
Points
933
Location
Bismarck
Property tax bills are quite different from one area to another. I personally wouldn't want to live in a fast growing city (Bismarck, Fargo, Watford, Williston, Dickinson, Lincoln, Kindred, etc), nor would I want to live in a town that was recently ravaged by a natural disaster, such as a flood. Those are recipes for a fast rising tax bill.

My property tax bill has not been rising as fast as many have shown on here, but my taxing district hasn't really had a great natural disaster, nor does it provide the same level of services as those in the higher taxed areas. I also do not live in a community with near unchecked growth that is requiring multi-million dollar solutions to city sewer and water. All that stuff costs money.

You don't like your property taxes, look into moving somewhere that doesn't have the level of services provided to your current address.

As I understand things, you have suggested a number of times that you are a contractor that does work for property tax collecting entities. What are you seeing on your end for the cost of services provided? Have you compared and contrasted the rise in costs for services you provide to that of your property tax bill? Not trying to pick on you here, I am legit curious.
Services, what services. I live off a gravel road that gets plowed maybe a couple times a year. Rural fire department 20 minutes away, police the one time my wife called because some women that was trying to get in the house and she was alone with the kids, She was told an officer would be there in 20/30 minutes, I made it home in less than 10. Rural and well water, septic system, garbage from private contractor. So tell me how I could get less services from the county.

As far as our price for services we provide we shop for the lowest cost on materials and try to keep our labor and other costs under control. when things get tight we cut back but when things get tight the government raises taxes on the citizens without a care if the citizens can afford the increase or not and rarely do they cut back If ever.
 

Allen

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
10,977
Likes
2,168
Points
758
Location
Lincoln, kinda...
That's done all the time in new developments to get people to buy homes, even some local towns like for example:after the flood the city of grand forks had a deal on home buying were if you paid on the loan for so many years the loan was forgiven. I'm not sure what exactly but I know that grand forks loss a lot of residents after rhe flood and the town was full of for sale signs throughout the neighborhoods. Grand Forks needed to get those homes sold especially when many were bought out by the city or insurance companies.
So yeah there are lots of ways to help keep the price of property taxes from going up but did you guys actually believe that north dakota would do away with property taxes which would have been the only one. Cmon man

WTF?

I lived in GF during and for several years after the 1997 flood.
1. I am not aware of any program that paid off your home loan once you had paid on it for a specified length of time.
2. There are/were property tax exemptions in place, and I don't remember the rules...they generally go something along the lines of "if you buy a house in a qualifying area, you will get an XX percent discount on property taxes for a set number of years. My first house in rural Bismarck also had some discount on property taxes for the first 3 years. These kinds of incentives are common across the country.
3. The population of Grand Forks fell from right around 50,000 people to around 39,000 (if memory serves) after the flood of 97. Many of those people moved to the rural small towns, Thompson, Larimore, Emerado, etc, etc, but not all of them as there were certainly those that just said Eff this!
4. Part of the problem in GF after 97 was that the flood impacted large areas of modestly priced homes. By the time some of those homes were demolished (you couldn't rebuild if you had roughly 50% damage, or large enough lot). So, many people who had $75k homes were not able to rebuild, and they were told to go buy those new homes in what were called the Congressional District on the west side of GF. Those homes sold for $120-150k. Pretty shitty deal to tell elderly retired folks who got bought out for $50-80k to go sign up for a mortgage on a $150k home.
5. Homes that are bought out using FEMA funds are not allowed to be rebuilt. That's federal law, and the city had to judiciously plan on where to buy out homes for floodways, dikes, etc. It's not an easy task.

I don't recall the exact numbers, but the flood of 1997 caused over a billion dollars in damages and future protection plans. The feds (through FEMA) picked up around half of the flood protection and city damages (not the personal property), the State picked up around 25% of the repair and protection costs, that still left the city with around 25% of the overall damage and protection costs. I want to say it was near $400 million. Not a good time to be a homeowner in GF, I'd guess they are still paying on some of the flood protection stuff. Not unlike Fargo, Minot and Bismarck, it takes decades to put together the next plan for flood protection and finish paying for it.


Shit, if I remember correctly, the Feds, State, and locals are some $1.4 billion dollars into the problems, protections and repairs required by the rise in Devils Lake over the past 30-some years. I am going to guess most of the local share on that has been raised through property taxes.
 
Last edited:


Recent Posts

Friends of NDA

Top Posters of the Month

  • This month: 399
  • This month: 349
  • This month: 118
  • This month: 107
  • This month: 107
  • This month: 106
  • This month: 85
  • This month: 79
  • This month: 79
  • This month: 74
Top Bottom