Data: North Dakota’s largest property taxpayers are out-of-state corporations – InForum

BISMARCK – North Dakota’s largest property taxpayers are out-of-state corporations

Data compiled by a group opposing a measure that would eliminate the tax.

But the person behind the ballot says the data is incomplete.

The North Dakota Association of Counties released data on the top property taxpayers in each county earlier this month. These top taxpayers paid nearly $90 million in 2023, according to the data.

Data showed that North Dakota collected more than $1.4 billion in property taxes last year; This means that the top three property taxpayers cover 6% of the tax.

The data also shows that 77% of the three largest property taxpayers are headquartered outside North Dakota. Among the largest taxpayers, out-of-state companies paid at least $73 million in 2023, the data shows. That was 82% of top property taxpayers and at least 5% of last year’s total property taxes.

“The top three have a large portion of out-of-state companies,” said Aaron Birst, executive director of the North Dakota Association of Counties.

Birst said many people, including lawmakers, have asked for data from the association because Measure 4, which would eliminate property taxes, is on the Nov. 5 general election. He said there is no good government system to track taxpayers’ whereabouts.

Birst said the association is asking for the top three property taxpayers from each county (53 in total). He acknowledged that data is incomplete, so it’s hard to say whether out-of-state taxpayers will benefit the most from Measure 4.

“I can safely say that if you eliminate property taxes, there will be a significant amount of taxes that are already being paid that will go out of state,” he said.

The association opposed the ballot question.

The largest property taxpayer in North Dakota is ONEOK. According to the association’s data, the natural gas company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, paid at least $15.5 million in 2023. The company may be paying more because the data reflects only the top three property taxpayers for each county.

2023 data showed Hess, an oil and gas company headquartered in New York, ranked second with $11.1 million, followed by BNSF Railway in Fort Worth, Texas, paying $6.1 million. Xcel Energy’s Minneapolis subsidiary, Northern States Power Co., ranked fourth, paying $5.2 million last year, according to the data.

The only North Dakota company in the top 10 was Bismarck-based Montana-Dakota Utilities. MDU paid $3.9 million last year.

Former Rep. Rick Becker, a Republican from Bismarck

sponsored the measure

He said the association’s figures did not show a full picture of who was paying tax and who it would affect.

“They’re picking cherries,” he said. “They’re trying to get people to vote against their own interests.”

Becker noted that the number of all residential property taxes is low, at 36%, according to the North Dakota Tax Commissioner’s Office. He said special assessments and taxes should be considered part of home taxes, which would bring that figure closer to 42%.

According to the Tax Commissioner’s Office, commercial entities pay 26% of all property taxes, followed by agriculture at 18%.

Becker argued that agricultural property was largely owned by local residents. He said people don’t actually own their property if they pay taxes.

Becker claimed that the numbers coming from the association were used to enlighten people, and added that for-profit companies are not bad. Local people also have businesses that make a profit, he said.

“They need to vote according to their own interests,” he said of voters.

Property taxes are used by local governments to pay for essential services such as law enforcement and fire departments, Birst said. He noted that proponents of Measure 4 have not presented a plan to cover those costs if property taxes were eliminated.

Birst said he suspected out-of-state companies were in the top three in many counties, but he was surprised by the amount they paid.

For example, the three largest companies in Oliver County, a wind and coal energy region, contributed 35.5% of the county’s $4.1 million in property taxes in 2023, according to the association’s data. This was the highest percentage of total property taxes paid in a county.

The top two spots are Allete ($1.2 million) and NextEra Energy ($160,744) in Duluth and Juno Beach, Fla., respectively. based wind energy companies.

The third largest company was Bismarck-based BNI Coal, paying $94,065.

Cass County’s top three paid the lowest percentage of $361 million in property taxes in 2023, at 1.2%, according to association data. The top two spots were taken by Northern States Power ($1.9 million) and Preylock ($1.6 million), both out of state.

Sanford finished third in 2023 with $767,546. The company is headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD, but is labeled as an in-state business on the association’s list.

A poll released this month by the North Dakota News Cooperative found that 40% of respondents said they would vote against Measure 4, while 28% said they planned to vote yes. With 33% of respondents undecided, the NDNC declared the race very close to call.