Say Anything

The North Dakota Policy Council has sued the City of Bismarck over tax incremental financing.
The Policy Council’s new Center for Constitutional Law is handling the case which alleges mishandling of TIF revenues by the city.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A businessman claims the city of Bismarck is illegally keeping $15 million in property taxes that were intended for urban renewal projects.
Curly Haugland sued the city Monday. He is a Republican activist and a longtime critic of the use of tax money to benefit private businesses.
He says the city collected the money as part of an urban renewal plan, but now wants to use part of the cash for projects that haven’t gotten proper approval – including a parking ramp and a “quiet rail” zone.

The Policy Council is certainly in the right on this issue, but what is perhaps more newsworthy than the lawsuit itself is the development of a constitutional law center here in the state. There are a number of legal issues important for conservatives that need to be settled in the courts, from the state’s unconstitutional use of tax dollars to fund economic development schemes to the question of recalling one of the state’s US Senators to the issue of Obamacares health cover mandate.
I think it’s entirely objectionable that so many of today’s policy issues are settled in courts rather than in the nation’s legislative bodies. But as long as our political leaders keep doing illegal things, conservatives will have to fight them in the courts. I look forward to seeing the NDPC take up the fight in that venue.