A group that advocates tax cuts and government spending limits has enlisted former GOP Gov. Ed Schafer to promote a series of public meetings on how to handle the North Dakota treasury's budget surplus.

Schafer said he hopes the forums will provide a counterweight to rising pressures for the Legislature to spend "every last nickel" of the surplus, which is expected to soar over $500 million by June 30, when state government's current budget cycle ends.

"I'm really worried that everybody has got their hand out," Schafer said. "The propensity is to spend it. The momentum is to spend it. Then you get in trouble down the road … It scares me to thinking, 'Here we go again.'"

Gov. John Hoeven said he wasn't told of the forums, which begin Tuesday in Fargo and Grand Forks. A dozen are planned during October, with additional events in Grafton, Devils Lake, Valley City, Jamestown, Wahpeton, Lisbon, Williston, Dickinson, Minot and Bismarck.

Hoeven has proposed a number of budget initiatives for the next Legislature, including $116 million for local property tax cuts, at least $60 million in higher spending for local schools, and a new round of economic development grants for colleges.

"We think we have the right balance," Hoeven said. "But I respect anybody and everybody who's out there who has some ideas. We look for good ideas wherever they come from."

Recent estimates have predicted North Dakota's general fund surplus will reach $527 million by June 30. That's more than one-fourth of the state's total general fund budget over two years, which is a shade under $2 billion.

The $527 million figure includes almost $100 million in a state "rainy day" fund, and a separate fund that is expected to have $155.7 million in surplus oil tax collections by June 30.

Americans for Prosperity, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., is coordinating the public forums. One of the group's founders is David Koch, the executive vice president of Koch Industries Inc., a privately held energy and chemicals company based in Wichita, Kan. Its executive vice president, Michelle Korsmo, is a native of Gilby.

The organization recently hired Duane Sand, a former North Dakota candidate for the U.S. House and Senate, as its state director in North Dakota and South Dakota. Sand said the forums will solicit public suggestions about possible tax cuts and ways to make state government more efficient.

Americans for Prosperity has advocated a "taxpayers' bill of rights" constitutional amendment in a number of states, which would limit government spending growth and require voter approval of tax increases.

The TABOR, as it is called, would allow budget surpluses to be set aside in reserve funds or returned to taxpayers through tax cuts.

Sand said the proposal has been popular in states with budget problems, but he does not believe it fits North Dakota.

"I'm not coming with the taxpayer bill of rights. It's not even on my agenda to talk about," Sand said. "There are no preconceived motivations … We are just looking for some good, solid input."

Don Morrison, director of the North Dakota Center for the Public Good, which is based in Bismarck, said the surplus offers the opportunity to increase state investment in neglected areas - such as property tax relief in slowing the growth of college tuition rates.

Morrison is dubious that tax cuts would be the correct economic tonic for North Dakota.

"It's a sham. It's a feel-good sham for a few people," Morrison said. "Some people get peanuts, and it does not help our economy."

The surplus has given fresh optimism to public agencies with budget priorities that they believe deserve a slice of the money.

School districts want Hoeven to go well beyond his $60 million promise to raise state aid to local schools. North Dakota's university system is seeking at increase of at least $63 million. State corrections officials are pushing a $42 million remodeling and construction project at the main state prison in Bismarck.

A state employee compensation advisory board recently forwarded a pay recommendation that would boost workers' salaries by 5 percent next year and 4 percent in 2008, along with providing $8 million to remedy pay disparities among state jobs. The price tag: $29 million.

Schafer, Sand and state Rep. Rick Berg, R-Fargo, the House majority leader, who has participated in discussions about the forums, say they do not yet have specific proposals in mind to discuss.

Schafer said he wanted to hear ideas about how to reduce the growth in government spending in the future, through privatizing some state services or tapping the budget surplus for a large, one-time expenditure.

For example, raising state spending on diabetes prevention could save large sums in the future if the number of diabetes cases could be reduced as a result, Schafer said.

"This isn't necessarily a Chamber of Commerce thing. This isn't just a business issue," he said. "I'm sure tax cuts is going to get talked about, but I don't want the conversation to get totally hung up on how to lower our taxes."