What a difference a year – and a bold policy change – makes.

Across North Dakota, property tax statements are arriving in mailboxes ahead of a Dec. 26 deadline for counties to mail them to homeowners.

And while it’s not a Christmas miracle, it’s certainly a welcome change to see property tax bills going down significantly, thanks to a major relief and reform package we approved with the Legislature last spring.

In 2024, North Dakota’s $500 Primary Residence Credit left about 16,000 households, or 10% of those eligible for the credit, owing no residual property tax.

Since we more than tripled the credit to $1,600, the number of households paying no property taxes in 2025 has increased to 50,000, or nearly 30% of those eligible.

That’s an increase of 34,000 households not paying property taxes – roughly the same number of households as the entire city of Bismarck.

This is meaningful, tangible tax relief. It’s working, and we can build on it to provide even more relief and get property taxes to zero for the vast majority of North Dakota homeowners.

In addition to the 50,000 households whose property taxes were zeroed out, another 95,000 applicants are seeing significant relief with the full $1,600 credit being applied to their bill.

A random sampling of 50 property tax statements by the North Dakota Association of Counties and our own Office of Management and Budget showed an average reduction in property taxes of 46%. Even if you remove the four homes whose property taxes were eliminated, the average reduction is still 41%.

But this relief isn’t just meaningful. It’s also sustainable.

A dedicated stream of earnings from our state’s $13 billion Legacy Fund is funding the Primary Residence Credit, which is estimated to save homeowners over $400 million in 2025 and 2026.

As the Legacy Fund continues to grow from oil and gas tax revenues and investment returns, the earnings stream also will grow, allowing us to increase the tax credit in future sessions, starting in 2027. This will offset the cost of inflation and eliminate property taxes for even more households, which on average spend one-third of their household budget on housing-related expenses.

In addition to the bigger tax credit, we approved a 3% cap on increases in local property tax budgets, which was the reform piece of the package passed last spring and remains a key ingredient in its success.

The benefit to taxpayers is unmistakable, and our state legislators deserve a lot of credit for making it happen.

Now we need everyone who’s eligible to apply for the credit. Tax Commissioner Brian Kroshus and his team have worked hard to increase the participation rate to 95%, but that means 5% of homeowners still aren’t taking advantage of the credit. We want to see that rate at 100%.

The Primary Residence Credit application period for the 2026 tax year runs from Jan. 1 through April 1. To apply, visit tax.nd.gov/prc or call the Tax Commissioner’s Office at (701) 328-7988 or toll-free at 1-877-649-0112 to connect with a property tax specialist.

And we’ll keep working to expand the credit and make North Dakota the best place to live, work and raise a family, year after year.