Daycare centers in Fargo don’t have to pay property taxes.
James Haley is the city’s deputy assessor. He says North Dakota’s Century Code says cities and counties may grant exemptions to daycare centers – and the City of Fargo has done so for years. Despite this, Haley says it’s not something all operators know about – and they may be missing out on a meaningful benefit.
"You know, daycare centers, they tend to sell similar to office space. A new center, they could sell for maybe $200 to $300 per square foot. So you're talking about $1 million, $1.5 million in market value that's exempt. - and that translates to a lot of money. Thirty, forty, fifty thousand dollars a year that a daycare operator could save."
Haley says the exemption only applies to daycare centers and not in-home daycares, but says the entire value of the building is exempt from property taxes. And he says it’s one of the only exemptions where you don’t have to own the property to take advantage.
"If say, I'm a daycare, and I lease from a landlord - the landlord can get the exemption as well. Normally, in a commercial lease, that passes to the daycare operator because the daycare operator has to pay property taxes. They collect that. So the daycare operator still benefits from that exemption."
Haley says it’s likely there are still a handful of daycare centers in town who might be unaware that they qualify for this exemption. He says owners or operators can simply call the city assessor’s office to find out – that number is 701-241-1340. They can also visit the city’s website for an online application.