A Minot legislative candidate is proposing a two-year, 50% cut in residential property taxes, calling it targeted tax relief in a time of soaring state budget surpluses.

Roscoe Streyle, a former Republican state legislator who is challenging the Republican-endorsed House candidates for a spot on the November ballot in District 3, said his $486 million proposal would still leave the state in a strong financial position.

“This is a reasonable proposal. It’s an affordable proposal,” he said. “I would never propose something – being the budget hawk that I am – that I don’t think we could afford.”

Streyle proposes to offset the cost of the tax cuts using $200 million in funds legislatively set aside from oil taxes for property-tax relief. The remainder of the needed dollars would come from a budget surplus estimated to reach $2.3 billion by the start of the next biennium in July 2023.

North Dakota currently has a surplus of $1.2 billion, representing revenue received over projections. Certain tax collections are designated for special funds, but about $473 million of the surplus is general fund or unobligated oil and gas taxes, according to state budget figures supplied by Streyle.

Revenue in the general fund is 18% over projections at this point in the biennium. Oil and gas revenues have been coming in at 32.4% over projections.

District 3 Republican-endorsed candidates Lori VanWinkle and Rep. Jeff Hoverson said they also support property-tax relief. VanWinkle, a Minot Realtor, said she was an early champion for eliminating property taxes, supporting that change before legislators were talking about it. It continues to be one of her aims, she said.

Hoverson said he is involved with a group hoping to place a measure on the 2024 ballot to eliminate property taxes in North Dakota. He said Streyle’s proposal is a step in the right direction, but he is concerned his election opponent may too easily compromise if his proposal goes before the Legislature.

“That’s why we are doing a measure,” he said.

Property taxes are levied at the local level rather than the state. Any tax reductions would be applied against the levies of local taxing entities, and the state would reimburse those entities for the reductions.

Under Streyle’s proposal, the owner of a $275,000 house in Surrey would see a property-tax reduction from $3,560 to $1,780. The owner of a $336,000 house in Minot would see a decline from $5,069 to $2,535. In rural Surrey, the $3,109 tax on a $315,000 home would drop to $1,555.

Mobile home taxes also would be cut by 50%. In Ward County, the total tax collected from mobile home owners would drop from $857,010 to $428,505, with the state making up the difference.

Streyle said the budget surpluses demonstrate the benefit the state is receiving from current high inflation. A property tax cut would blunt the corresponding negative effect of inflation on homeowners, he said.

“The big winner in this would be senior citizens on fixed incomes,” he said.

Agricultural and commercial properties aren’t included in his proposal. Streyle said his plan targets residential property to distribute the most benefit, noting that business owners have greater ability to increase income in times of inflation.

He added he believes tax cuts beyond next biennium can be sustainable. Property-tax cuts also would stimulate the state’s economy, he said.

“When you are letting people spend it versus the government, it’s almost always going to produce a better result in terms of how the money turns over in the economy,” he said.