Say Anything Blog

He’s right, too.

During the last three months North Dakotans concerned about long-term growth in Government coordinated a Taxpayers Trust Tour.

The tour involved 12 communities hosting an open forum to discuss ideas for using the surplus.

Participants were asked to consider how policy makers could lower the cost of government, improve government services or increase state revenues by boosting the economy.

Schafer says the message is a permanent solution not a temporary refund.

(Ed Schafer, Former ND Governor) “But people were very clear that if we are generating excess revenues, that some of those excess revenues out to come back to the people. They were also very clear that those revenues don’t come back to the people in one time check of a hundred or two hundred dollars. But that they come back in actual rate decreases and that’s what generates the economy.”

Video of this report here.

Currently ND Republicans, led by Governor Hoeven, are proposing a state “buy down” of local property taxes (which are set by the counties/municipalities).  Basically, the state would “rebate” the counties and cities 10% of residential property taxes collected, 5% of commercial property taxes, etc.  The problem with this is that it represents new spending for the state, not actual tax relief.

Remember that the money being used by the state to buy down is still coming from ND tax payers.  Sure it will “buy down” local property taxes, but it will be buying it down with tax dollars North Dakotans already paid in.

How is that tax relief?  And what guarantee do we have that local government won’t raise property taxes now that North Dakotans are getting this tax “relief?”

Governor Hoeven’s plan is a shoddy one, as is the Democrat plan which seems to expect that if we increase state-level spending on education local government will lower property taxes because less money would be needed for the schools.  Which is total nonsense.  Again, what assurance do we have that local government will actually lower property taxes?

Gov. Schafer has it exactly right.  True tax relief from North Dakotans would come from a cut in the income tax rates, not these tax dollar shell games being proposed by state Republicans and Democrats which simply take the tax dollars we paid on one tax and shift them over to pay down another tax.