Dick Heidt - City Magazine

| MANDAN ON THE Move
Working to decrease
Property Taxes
Mandan has received a bad rap
for high property taxes, but
the problem is not unique to
our community. Property taxes
across North Dakota are higher than residents
would like.
By the time you read this, the State Legislature
may have addressed the situation with
greater support for K-12 education from the
budget surplus, thus allowing local public
school districts to lower mill levies.
Costs of public education account for the
majority of the property tax bill—47 percent
for 2008 in Mandan and 55 percent in Bismarck.
Among the state’s 12 largest cities, the
share of property taxes devoted to education
is largest in Fargo at 65 percent and smallest
in Devils Lake at 40 percent.
A few years back, Mandan’s consolidated
mill levy for property taxes—county, school,
city and park district shares—ranked first
among the state’s 12 largest cities. Mandan
By Ellen Huber, Business Development Director
ranks fourth for property taxes levied in
2008 and payable in 2009, according to a new
compilation by the N.D. League of Cities.
Mandan’s total levy dropped to 498 mills,
down from 504 in 2007, 511 in 2006 and 535
in 2005.
The Mandan City Commission has made
a concerted effort to hold the line on property
taxes in the face of increasing valuations.
The portion of the property tax bill for city
services is 20 percent in Mandan, the same as
Bismarck and in the middle of the pack for
the state’s 12 largest cities.
The overall mill levy in Mandan has
declined, even with an increase in the school
district levy in 2005 because residents voted
nearly 2 to 1 in support of a bond issue for a
new middle school.
Leaders in Mandan will continue working
to decrease property taxes and find other
sources of revenue for improvements that our
community needs and wants.
April 2009 21