Former state lawmaker Rick Becker leads new initiative to abolish North Dakota property taxes

FARGO — After 11 years, North Dakota might once again be asked if they want to eliminate property taxes statewide.

A new petition headed by former state lawmaker and U.S. Senate candidate Rick Becker seeks to eliminate property taxes in North Dakota and has been submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The proposed constitutional initiative would prohibit “all political subdivisions from levying any tax on real or personal property except for bonded indebtedness until paid.”

The proposed petition, sponsored by a 25-person committee, is seeking at least 32,000 signatures over the next year to successfully place it on the next ballot as a constitutional measure, as long as the measure is given the go-ahead from the Secretary of State.

“The number one complaint or concern for North Dakotan is, and has been for many years, property tax,” Becker said. “What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working; the citizens of North Dakota haven’t seen the tax relief that the state of North Dakota could provide and they deserve.”

North Dakotans turned down a similar constitutional measure in 2012 with nearly 77% of the vote.

Becker, who left the Republican Party to run an unsuccessful independent campaign against U.S. Sen. John Hoeven in 2022, is the chairperson of the sponsoring committee, which includes three Fargo lawmakers.

Tony Gehrig, who served on the Fargo City Commission from 2015 to 2022, is listed.

“I think that perhaps the most hated tax in the state is property taxes,” Gehrig told The Forum. Property taxes have outlived their usefulness and there are newer, better options, he said.

What city’s lose in revenue from doing away with property taxes could be made up by an increase in state funding through

Prairie Dog Funds – oil tax revenue distributed by the state for local infrastructure projects

– combined with municipalities cutting back their spending habits to eliminate excessive local spending, Gehrig said.

“I think local control in many cases is failing,” Gehrig said. “They are spending like drunken sailors.

Becker last proposed his plan to put a near-total elimination of property taxes to a public vote in October of 2022.

The former U.S. Senate candidate

proposed a legislative resolution

that would have needed approval from the state Legislature in order to be placed on the 2024 ballot. Becker, however, did not seek reelection in the North Dakota House of Representatives in 2022. The measure failed in 2023 after another representative brought it forward in his stead, he said.

Becker

sponsored a bill in 2021 that failed 27 to 63 in the House

, and also proposed

a citizen-led ballot measure in 2020

that failed to muster any potential.

It’s boots on the ground this time, according to Becker, with plans to begin signature gathering once the committee gets the all-clear. He plans to lead a team of volunteers to gather signatures and anticipates the support will start “spilling in.”

“This is something that is very grassroots organized,” Becker said. “It’s all about the people in North Dakota.”

Secretary of State Michael Howe and Attorney General Drew Wrigley have until Wednesday, June 26, to draft a title for the petition, which must be a “short and concise statement” that “fairly represent(s) the measure,” according to the release.

The title must be included on the petition as it is being circulated for signatures, it adds.

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