Ward County taxpayers could see a decrease in their county property tax levy under a 2026 budget adopted by the Ward County Commission Friday, Sept. 26.

The owner of a home with an unchanged assessment of $225,000 would pay $623 on the county’s share of their tax bill, down $22.17 or 3.44%. The owner of an average quarter of agricultural land would see a decrease of $10.37, also 3.44%.

The $67.53 million county budget requires a levy of $23.65 million, up $317,617 from this year, for an increase of 1.36%.

Of the amount levied, $20.64 million would support county operations. County residents outside of Minot would see an additional $375,113 levy for county library functions.

Another $2.63 million of the overall levy is for other entities, including $756,000 for the Ward County Water Resources Board, $690,000 for Souris River Joint Board, $395,766 for Garrison Diversion, $395,766 for senior citizens programs, $247,464 for the Soil Conservation District and $150,000 for the North Dakota State Fair.

The levy increase, other than the library, uses just 0.59% of the 3% cap on property tax increases set by the 2025 Legislature, leaving 2.41% of the cap amount to carry over for use within the next five years. The library uses none of its cap and will have 3% to carry over.