A North Dakota House committee is looking at a measure that its sponsor says is designed to control the growth in property taxes.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Kim Koppelman (R-West Fargo). The bill would limit property tax increases to two percent per year. And if local governments want to raise them further, they would have to put it on the ballot.
"The issue is, at least, if we can't lower property taxes, at least let's control the rate at which they increase," Koppelman told the House Finance and Taxation Committee.
Representatives of local governments say those decisions are best left in the hands of the local elected boards.
"Utimately, the control of property taxes is the responsibility of the governing boards and the citizens," said Donnell Presky Huschka of the North Dakota Association of Counties. "Adequate information and active participation is ke, not artifical limitations that may cause unknown and unintended results."
The Committee did not take immediate action on the measure.
