For the last four sessions, the North Dakota Legislature has been in the business of spending state tax dollars by paying local government to lower property taxes. In rare cases, the state has gotten what it paid for. But in most cases, local property taxes did not decrease by the full amount the legislature intended.
Of course, it never could or would, because property taxes are levied by local elected officials. Without passing restrictive laws to protect local taxpayers and rein in their local governments the state was never going to get a perfect situation.
During the 2013 Legislative Session, much of the previous "property tax buy-down program" spending was folded into the overall Education Funding Formula - a move concocted by Governor Jack Dalrymple (R) - even though it meant that if revenue ever fell off a cliff (like it is in the process of do…
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