Fred W. Evans, Stanley

I’m Fred Evans, chairman of the board for Brookbank Township, and I’d like to share some important facts about property taxes in Mountrail County, North Dakota, which may be similar to the situation in your area.

The primary concern often revolves around property taxes on our homes, but there’s a much larger picture to consider. In Mountrail County, Marathon Oil has a sizable gas plant south of Stanley along ND Highway 8, with an assessed value of $5,080,700.00, making it the highest on the list of centrally assessed properties from our tax office. This significant value brings substantial revenue into our county. By comparison, the total taxable value of all homes and commercial properties in Stanley is $13,213,640.00.

Here are the facts: In Mountrail County, locally assessed properties (residential and commercial) have a total taxable value of $88,092,319. Centrally assessed properties, including pipelines, railroads, and large facilities like gas plants, have a total taxable value of $78,742,686, accounting for 47.2% of the total.

The largest percentage of our property taxes is not paid by individual homeowners but by centrally assessed properties, a fact many North Dakotans may not be aware of. Additionally, commercial properties, which are locally assessed, also make up a significant percentage, not just homes and land.

Opposing property taxes is fundamentally misguided. It’s time to wake up, North Dakota! Here’s why:

– Losing Local Control. Eliminating property taxes would mean losing our ability to manage and control local funding.

– Fairness. Property taxes are a relatively fair way to distribute the tax burden.