Audio: Cities Representative Said Legislature Had No “Exit Strategy” From Property Tax Buydowns

“City property taxes are going to go up.”

That’s what Blake Crosby, executive director of the North Dakota League of Cities, told me on air yesterday.

“It depends on the particular city,”  he added, “but generally speaking yes they’re going to have to.”

He blamed the Legislature for the increases. He said that state lawmakers have been buying down local property taxes with state appropriations but that the policy didn’t have enough foresight.

“One of the things they forgot to do was include an exit strategy,” he said.

Lawmakers ended the 12 percent property tax buy downs during their session earlier this year, though they offset that by taking over local spending on social services.

Crosby says it was a mistake for lawmakers to ever get into the property tax business to begin with.

“Property taxes are a local tax,” he said. “The state should have kept its hands out of property taxes.”

Here’s the audio:

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