By the end of the 2019 North Dakota Legislature, lawmakers will have discussed, debated, and voted on more than 950 bills and resolutions. One bill that had great potential to positively impact the future of North Dakota is Senate Bill 2275. Unfortunately, the bill was given a Do Not Pass recommendation by a 15-3 vote in the Appropriations Committee. The bill is unlikely to be revived on the House floor. Municipal leaders across the state are no doubt disappointed by the vote.

At its core, this bill would have allowed communities across the state to leverage low-interest loans into crucial infrastructure. Low-interest loans would have been obtained from the state’s general fund through an appropriation request.

The potential to obtain low-interest loans with repayment periods for up to 40 years would have been a boon to cities across the state, including Minot.

We are currently working on the two largest infrastructure projects in our city’s history: Flood control and the Northwest Area Water Supply project. The first three phases of flood control are under construction, and design is under way on Phase 4, Phase 5 and additional phases outside of Minot such as in the City of Burlington. Minot’s water treatment plant is undergoing a major expansion to help accommodate the water that will soon be coming from Lake Sakakawea, and a biota treatment facility near Max is in the design phase, as well as the intake structure at the Snake Creek pump station.

Not only are these projects vital to Minot’s future, but they also play a key role in protecting and providing for thousands of residents in north central North Dakota. Flood control will protect those living in four counties and four cities throughout the Mouse River Valley. The NAWS project will bring a clean, reliable source of water to nearly 90,000 people in north central North Dakota. The local cost share of these two projects is estimated at more than $250 million over the next 10 years. SB 2275 would have provided an ideal method to enhance our ability to finance these two crucial infrastructure projects by reducing the interest rate by half and saving taxpayers across the state hundreds of millions of dollars in financing costs.

In Minot alone, the passage of SB 2275 could have saved taxpayers as much as $100 million in long-term financing and administrative fees. That is money we would not have to raise through property taxes or sales taxes, representing real tax relief for our residents. Minot uses 60 percent of its sales tax to finance these types of projects, but at our current rate, we will reach our bonding capacity in 2020 if further financing options aren’t researched. That means we would have two choices: increase taxes or delay these important projects. Both options have financial consequences for our community in the form of a tax increase or watching inflation raise the cost of the delayed projects. Both are bad options. SB 2275 would have significantly extended our bonding capacity by reducing the loan interest rate by half and extending the repayment terms compared to the conventional loans that are often used.

Affordable, safe, and modern infrastructure is critical for the continued growth of our cities and our state. Senate Bill 2275, combined with other financial tools, would have greatly helped our state meet its future infrastructure needs. I can’t stress enough how beneficial this legislation would have been to cities across North Dakota, including Minot. Please, call or send a message to your legislators to let them know you supported SB 2275, and share with them your disappointment in the bill’s Do Not Pass recommendation. Contact information for all legislators can be found here: https://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/66-2019/members.

Thankfully, House Bill 1066, known as Operation Prairie Dog, had a successful outcome. It was unanimously passed by the North Dakota Senate earlier in the session and was signed into law this past week by Gov. Doug Burgum. We thank the Minot legislators for their strong support of this bill, which will be another of the defining accomplishments of the 2019 session. This legislation is very important to Minot’s future, but approving this bill also represents doing what is right for all of North Dakota. The Prairie Dog bill uses up to $250 million to fund airport, city, county, and township infrastructure projects across the state. The bill’s overwhelming support is a great sign for a city like Minot, with many infrastructure projects on the horizon. The funds could be available as early as 2021 and would be distributed every two years. HB1066 also alters the gross production tax formula used for the “hub cities” of Minot, Dickinson, and Williston. The formula changes could mean an additional $2 million to $4 million annually for Minot. The passage of HB 1066 is a sign that state legislators are taking seriously the ever-growing infrastructure needs across our state, and continue to recognize that Minot is and always will be a “hub city” that is affected by western North Dakota’s oil patch.

Sincerely, City Hall.

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