How would you vote

[dcsnomo]

I can not emphasize how much I disagree with this statement. So let me make sure I understand - the more money a school district has, and the MORE they can tax, implies they will be the best school district in the state? Think about how truly naive that is. How much is too much, and what about one individuals motivation to be a better teacher or administrator than the next guy? Does throwing more and more money, pension and benefits at these people somehow make them better employee's? I'd say experience has taught us just the opposite, which is why the WI state reforms and ACT10 were so necessary.

Bottom line is, you never want to let some taxing authority keep more money than they need - period. This is just high incentive for bureaucratic abuse. If they have it, they will spend it. It's been going on forever. If they have a surplus, it should be given back to the state taxpayers in whatever way possible. When the oil boom is over, and you have to reinstate the prop taxes, you address it then. Meanwhile you have 10, 20, or 30 years of lower taxation - as it should be.

And also, I'm not buying the fact that elimination of property taxes was going to be completely offset by an increase in sales and income taxes. If you read they initial article, they said they were running a surplus about equal to the total property tax revenue stream, and that is why they brought it up for a referendum. Nice and clean for people to understand.

I dd not imply that more = better. What I said was that in issues of community governance (schools, parks, public safety) LOCAL control is better than STATE control. The COMMUNITY knows its needs better than the STATE. What the tax levels are, and what services or programs the community wants/needs are better determined at a local level. And that is what the property tax allows.

Here is the text of Measure 2 relating to lost revenues "The measure would require the Legislative Assembly to replace lost revenue to cities, counties, townships, school districts, and other political subdivisions with allocations of various state-level taxes and other revenues, without restrictions on how these revenues may be spent by the political subdivisions"

Here's a birds-eye view of the oil tax...

Thirty percent of the state's oil taxes are stashed in a trust fund, which North Dakota voters approved two years ago. The Legislature is barred from dipping into the fund until 2017, and there are subsequent restrictions on how it may be spent.

North Dakota collected almost $1.2 billion in taxes on oil and natural gas from July 1, when the state's current budget period began, through April 30.

Of that sum, the state's general treasury has gotten 17 percent, while local governments and the Three Affiliated Tribes, which benefits from production on the Fort Berthold reservation in western North Dakota, have gotten 20 percent, the state Office of Management and Budget says.

North Dakota has two primary taxes on oil -- a 5 percent production tax and a 6.5 percent extraction tax, both of which are figured on the oil's value when it is pumped. Many wells do not pay the top rate; North Dakota's oil tax system is honeycombed with breaks and exemptions.

State law requires that a portion of the production tax go to oil-producing counties, which in turn must share it with cities and school districts within the county.

North Dakota lawmakers also have approved pumping added oil revenues into housing, road construction and $100 million worth of "impact grants" to cities, counties and townships.


I do not live in ND, nor have I followed this issue closely. I just believe it is backwards logic to move funding of local initiatives (schools, parks, public safety) from the community to the state, especially in a state where the legislature only meets once every two years for 80 days. If the surplus is there, why not take the money from the state (eliminate income tax) and leave local government to determine its priorities? If your only objective is to use up the surplus cut the state tax, not the local one.

 

[bearrassler]

DC you are right on the oil tax but what most people don't realize is that taxes like income and sales are running way ahead of projections, we are not just an oil state. The ag producers (our number one industry) are making record profits and just about every other part of our economy is booming with a few exceptions.

 

[dcsnomo]

DC you are right on the oil tax but what most people don't realize is that taxes like income and sales are running way ahead of projections, we are not just an oil state. The ag producers (our number one industry) are making record profits and just about every other part of our economy is booming with a few exceptions.

Nice spot to be in. If income and sales taxes are causing the surplus, then cut those. More consumption=more taxes!

 

[whitedust]

I have been busy at work the last few days so I have not been on here much but here are a couple of points. DC said that it shifted the tax burden to the state, while this is true, the property tax brings in just under 900 million a year, and the state is running a surplus at this time of about 1.5 billion per bienium (750 million per year) and the idea was that sales tax and income tax revenue would rise because we would all have a lot more money to spend. The lobbiests were out in full force with huge add campaign's and I think they scared most people into voting against it. Now the legislature is talking about many different ideas to use our surplus, things like reducing the income tax, maybe making the first 100,000 or 150,000 of your property exempt from taxes. We will see what happens in January.

Sounds like ND voted themselves into a never ending ever increasing tax surplus.LOL They also voted to keep a larger local goverment & fund that expense. That is what happens when you cut up a fat hog more than enough for anyone & everyone with lots left over so feed it to hogs so you can have another fat hog & another. Sounds like your state roads & bridges will be repaired again & again until it becomes the norm that the public exspects.