Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck News - Tax cut proposal defeated

Tax cut proposal defeated

Mar 02, 2005 - 23:16:18 CST

By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press Writer

A proposal to swap large property tax cuts for substantial increases in North Dakota's sales and income taxes proved too radical for the state Senate, which overwhelmingly defeated the legislation. It got two votes.

"Some day, I think that we perhaps will fund education according to a formula very similar to this," said Sen. Layton Freborg, R-Underwood, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "But today ... we believe that perhaps, it's ahead of its time."

Senators voted 45-2 on Wednesday to reject the bill, which has been one of the top attention-grabbers of the 2005 Legislature. The Education Committee had recommended unanimously that the measure be defeated.

It sought to abolish school general fund property taxes, while increasing North Dakota's sales tax from 5 percent to 7 percent, and imposing a 33 percent surtax on top of state individual and business income tax payments.

Sens. Connie Triplett, D-Grand Forks, and Harvey Tallackson, D-Grafton, voted for the legislation. "I do agree that this is a radical bill," Tallackson said. "But we need to do something radical to stay out of the courts."

A group of school districts has filed a lawsuit in state district court in Williston, arguing North Dakota's system of providing aid to local schools is too reliant on property taxes and does not finance an adequate public education. The lawsuit has not gone to trial.

The legislation's sponsors, Reps. C.B. "Buck" Haas, R-Taylor, and Gil Herbel, R-Grafton, said afterward they were surprised the bill got only two Senate votes. Both said the result would not stifle an ongoing debate about how to lessen schools' dependence on local property taxes.

"I think political will, and a resolve to solve the problem, is what it's going to take on the part of legislators," Haas said. "Without that resolve, nothing is going to happen ... Two more years of study is not going to do anything for this issue. We have studied it to death."

A school district's general fund property tax pays for operating expenses, including salaries and supplies. The average tax rate is now 195 mills, the Department of Public Instruction says. The bill sought to reduce the rate to zero, although school boards could re-impose a tax of up to 80 mills if two-thirds of their members agreed.

North Dakota's Tax Department estimated the higher income and sales taxes would raise $576 million over two years, while giving property tax payers $427 million in savings during the same period.

Supporters of the bill disputed the estimate, saying it assumed all districts would assess the maximum 80-mill property tax rate. Haas estimated the net tax increase was closer to $14 million, instead of $149 million, over two years.

Sen. John Andrist, R-Crosby, said during Wednesday's Senate debate that the proposal looked innovative at first.

"But the more we looked at it, the more we began to realize ... how destructive this could be to our economy, in so many ways," Andrist said.

Freborg said he worried that the legislation's new 80-mill property tax limit would inexorably rise as schools demanded the ability to raise more money locally.

Sen. Ryan Taylor, D-Towner, said he was uncertain the legislation had broad public support, particularly because of its advocacy of a higher state sales tax.

"I think the effort to decrease property taxes across North Dakota is not over," Taylor said. "I think the effort to put more statewide dollars into our school system is not over ... I wish there weren't so many loose ends on this bill, but unfortunately there are, and our time is short."

The bill is HB1512.

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Comments

Shannalii wrote on Jun 2, 2008 12:22 PM:

" is this a true story?? cause if it is thats scary i used to live in the palace arms hotel. well i only lived there for like a month and a half. but i was in grade 4, now im in grade 10. me and the other kids that lived there always wondered why no one was allowed on the 7th floor. my mom and my stepdad used to work there too. so did these other people and they got sent to jail because they started a meth-lab up there. but one day the power went out in the whole hotel. i lost my dads ring there in suite 419. i had a lot of fun in that hotel though...i just didnt know it was haunted. "

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PC of Mandan wrote on Dec 11, 2006 10:41 AM:

" Thank you for such a intelligently written report on Senator Dorgan. It's too bad most candidates feel they have to mud sling their apponants to get their ideas across. I would, just once, like to listen to someone talk about the issues, and not bad mouth the other person. I think, this is why Senator Dorgan has been reelected through the years. He talks about the issues and asks questions to get more information on what the people are thinking. "

Online Editor wrote on Nov 8, 2006 1:57 PM:

" To I Know Everything: Each comment is read by the Editor or the Online Editor before it is posted. Your first comment won't be posted because it is potentially libelous. "

i know everything wrote on Nov 8, 2006 1:54 PM:

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GG wrote on Oct 7, 2006 10:00 PM:

" LEGALIZE MARIJUANA. The war on drugs is a waste of tax payers money. People should have the right to decide what goes into their bodies and what doesn't. The government shouldn't own you, correct? "

Quite confused wrote on Aug 10, 2006 10:22 PM:

" I thought this was a football story. "

just me wrote on Aug 5, 2006 2:29 PM:

" What do any of these comments have to do with placing the people who should not be in society in commitments to a state hospital? Why should they have a right to a chance at life when they took any kind of DECENT life of not looking over your shoulder from their victims? Why should they have 3 squares a day and a roof over their head either? I say put them all out on a little island and let them have at eachother for their own sick way or pleasure. Why put the rest of society in jeapordy of their sick ways? All these children who had their INNOCENTS STOLEN, they can never get that back. Why do the offenders have a chance to get theirs back? "

Brenda Coin wrote on Jul 12, 2006 9:51 PM:

" Hello, I am a North Dakota native who currently resides in Missouri. I came here to pursue music. I remember the days of the oil boom in and around Dickinson, ND back in the late 70's and early 80's. My dad is still residing in ND and they recently drilled on his land. I was wondering how I could find out specific info. on what was found after drilling this time. They drilled back in 1983 and it was a dry hole and they found oil this time but I haven't heard any details as to what the results are. How would I get that information? "

Dorothy Hendrickson Tenney wrote on Jul 6, 2006 1:58 PM:

" I had many picnics at the Cave Hills when I was a child and teenager, and don't remember seeing many pictographs or other Indian paintings, so when initials were carved out, we didn't think of it as "Grafitti", just saying we were there. I wish I had known the history of the Hills while I was there, it would have made it even more special. I will always remember the coolness of the valleys and the good spring water. It was our "backyard". "

D. Anderson wrote on Jul 3, 2006 8:00 PM:

" Today's graffiti is the rock art of the future. Look at Pompey's Pillar, where a traveling white man left his mark back in 1806. There is a big celebration planned for Aug. 25 this year to observe 200-year-old graffiti. As an aside, consider the Medicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka: acres of sandstone covered with inscriptions, yet none call it graffiti. Once you consider a rock to be sacred, you become guilty of idolitry. "

Glenn Andersen wrote on May 2, 2006 12:41 PM:

" Is it just me, but it seems that a lot of foreign companies are crucial to so many of the renewable energy projects going forward in this country. I am not complaining, only wondering why companies based in this country are not leading the way in this industry. "

kim miner at kim77miner77@yahoo.com wrote on Apr 8, 2006 6:52 PM:

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