North Dakota
North Dakota Legislature narrows property tax reform bills as key deadline approaches
BISMARCK — North Dakota lawmakers have narrowed the field of property tax bills ahead of the session’s midpoint, with just seven of roughly 20 proposals still standing.
By early March, all Senate bills must pass to the House and all House bills must pass to the Senate.
The House and Senate have only passed one property tax bill so far this session, Senate Bill 2201, which simply seeks to make those who have their primary residences in trusts eligible for the primary residence tax credit passed during the 2023 legislative session.
This week alone, the Legislature shot down eight bills dealing with property taxes. Of those eight, five were killed during a late House session on Tuesday.
The late session followed a nearly hourlong discussion during the chamber’s normal session on amendments to House Bill 1176, which encompasses the governor’s property tax reform and relief plan, introduced by Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck.
The bill had been substantially amended in committee since its initial introduction. Notably, an amendment had been added that would allow voters to exclude their county or city from the levy increase caps proposed by the bill for a period of up to 10 years. The funding amounts to be appropriated from the General and Legacy funds were flipped so more funding would come from the Legacy Fund and less from the General Fund to pay for the bill’s proposed increase to the primary residence tax credit. Additionally, $50 million had been added to increase income tax relief for North Dakotans, according to Rep. Jared Hagert, R-Emerado.
All amendments to the bill were approved by the House chamber except for the $50 million for income tax relief. The bill was re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee but is expected to return to the floor this week to be voted on.
Gov. Kelly Armstrong said he was happy the bill is moving forward and did not have many qualms with the amendments. He said he understood that legislators were attempting to provide flexibility to smaller political subdivisions with the amendment to allow voters to exclude political subdivisions from levy caps, but thought there was an option to provide that flexibility which would be “a little more restrictive.”
“The fact that this conversation is top of mind and moving forward, it’s not stuck in the mud, that’s really important for how this process works to get to a result at the end,” Armstrong told the Tribune.
“A lot of people are putting a lot of hard work in,” he said. “I don’t have to agree with every single aspect of the legislation to know that everybody’s working hard to get a solid piece of legislation together.”
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The culling of property tax bills created a heated discussion on the floor during Tuesday’s late session. Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, expressed frustration with the House Finance and Taxation Committee over its decisions on property tax bills this session. He said that it follows a trend over the past several sessions where the committee chooses one bill and piles all the ideas they like from other bills onto it.
“They’re piled into a single bill a lot of times. I think this session it might turn out to be two bills, but then they’ve been particularly harsh on everything else,” Koppelman said in an interview with the Tribune on Wednesday. “Since all these bills had different ideas, I think the body as a whole should really have a fair shake at deciding which is our preferred source … So that’s what I was being critical of.”
Koppelman was the primary sponsor of House bills 1390, 1353 and 1343, which together acted as competitors to House Bill 1176. He said he felt there were “much better options that died last night than what we have in House Bill 1176” but he was hopeful — if skeptical — that pieces from the deceased bills would make their way into whatever property tax reform bill is eventually signed by the governor.
Nathe said he disagreed with Koppelman and others’ assessment of the Finance and Tax Committee and felt the committee had done its job going through the many property tax bills to determine what works and what does not.
This sentiment was echoed by House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, who said the committee had done a “tremendous amount of work” on the property tax reform bills.
“I just believe the Finance and Tax Committee did a very good job of vetting all these different bills because they come from different angles,” Lefor said. “Quite frankly, I appreciate the work of all the representatives — and senators – that brought bills forward.”
Sen. Mark Weber, R-Casselton, who chairs the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee said he had not seen any bills that were direct competitors to 1176 come through his committee, but he had seen at least one bill, Senate Bill 2363, which would work in tandem with 1176 to provide some property tax relief for agricultural landowners.
Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, who chairs the House Finance and Taxation Committee, said there was one other bill left, House Bill 1575, that was a direct competitor to House Bill 1176. He said he felt 1575 would provide relief in an “easier and simpler” way than House Bill 1176, and would provide tax relief across multiple property designations including residential, commercial, and agricultural land.
Nathe said he felt House Bill 1176 had the most momentum of any property tax bill at this point in the session, especially with the backing of the governor.
Lefor and Armstrong both said they were happy with the progress made on property tax reform so far during the session and felt confident at this point that the Legislature would come away with a strong property tax relief and reform package by the end of it.
“I would say we’re really positive about the likelihood of getting a good piece of relief and reform at the end of the session,” Armstrong said. “Well, hopefully not the end, end. But … I don’t think pre-crossover is going to happen, nor should it. The longer you have momentum moving forward, the more you have stakeholders engage in real solutions to what they see as perceived problems.”
Vernon Dale Krause, 93, of Fargo, ND, formerly of Wahpeton, ND, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 10, 2026, at Heather’s House in Fargo, ND, under the care of HIA Hospice.
A Celebration of life will be held on Monday, July 20, 2026, at Vertin-Munson Funeral Home, Wahpeton. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., followed by a service at 10:00 a.m., with burial immediately following at Fairview Cemetery in Wahpeton.
Vern was born on February 16, 1933, in rural Wyndmere, ND, one of eleven children born to Theodore and Ella (Rohl) Krause. He grew up in Wyndmere and attended Wyndmere Public School, where he left his studies behind to volunteer for the United States Army. Vern proudly served from 1953 to 1956 before transferring to the Army Reserves. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and, throughout his life, carried great pride in his years of military service.
He married Jean (Carey) Krause, and together they built a life and raised their family in Wahpeton, where he would spend most of his years. They were blessed with two children. In his later years, after developing severe dementia, Vernon moved to Fargo so he could receive the care he needed and be closer to family.
For 41 years, he worked for the City of Wahpeton Water & Sewer Department, where he was highly regarded and known for knowing every inch of the city like the back of his hand. Even after retirement, he continued to volunteer his time and expertise whenever the City needed him. Among the accomplishments he was most proud of were his early years helping develop the Chahinkapa Zoo.
Above all, he cherished his family. He loved anything to do with his grandchildren — from crafting chairs out of tree trunks and splitting wood, to watching their sporting events and helping them grow into who they were meant to be. His great-grandchildren were a true blessing to him — even if their energy made him a little nervous, he always looked forward to their visits. His nieces and nephews brought him great joy as well especially in his later years and he loved being an uncle to them. When his brother Leyone “Spud” moved to town, Vern couldn’t wait to deliver him the daily newspaper and share a chat. He loved tinkering in the garage, always engineering new ways to drain water, and he was the biggest Green Bay Packers fan around — proud to call himself a team shareholder. After moving to Fargo, Vernon was grateful for the time he was able to spend with his sister, Carole Jean, who had always been his protector.
Vernon will be remembered for his steady hands, his quiet devotion to family and community, and the example he set of showing up — for his country, for his city, and most of all, for the people he loved. He will be deeply missed.
Vern is survived by his son, Mark Krause, Fargo; two sisters-in-law, Priscilla Krause and Donna Krause; two brothers-in-law, Ron Carey and Don Carey; eight grandchildren, Carey, Danielle, Margo, Jodi, Nikki, Kevin, Brad and Tracee; 13 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Jean Krause; his daughter, Deb Christopher; five brothers, Alfred, Donald, Willard, Kenneth and Leyone Krause; five sisters, Dorothy Peterson, Loretta Dable, LaVelle Odegard, Lucille Kruchek and Carole Jean Johnson-Bohlken; sisters-in-law, Viola Krause, Marleen Krause, Amy Carey and Linda Carey; brothers-in-law, Elroy Odegard, Robert Johnson, Willis Bohlken, Pete Peterson, Johnny Kruchek and Frank Dable; granddaughter, Robyn Krause; and grandson, Jack Bollman.
GRAFTON, N.D. — Two North Dakota men are speaking out about a 38-year-long alleged mistake that altered their entire lives.
The men and their families are suing Unity Medical Center in Grafton, saying the hospital is responsible for
switching them at birth in 1988
. The hospital denies the allegations.
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There are moments that remind us exactly who we are as a community, and the recent fire at Antelope Creek Bar and Grill in Mooreton was one of them. Many already know the awful loss that unfolded. It was a brutally hot day, the kind where the sun feels heavy and the air is so thick, and social media quickly filled with photos, videos, and comments documenting the devastation. Heartbreaking. Gut‑wrenching. A place that held memories for so many suddenly only visions smoke and charred remains.
But even in the middle of all that loss, something else rose up, something that always seems to show itself around here when life gets hard. Kindness. Pure, steady kindness.
The volunteer firefighters were the first reminder. They never cease to amaze me. They drop everything … work, family, whatever they were in the middle of and suit up in layers of gear despite the heat and humidity. They’re regular people with regular jobs, yet they show up like it’s the most natural thing in the world. No spotlight. No applause. Just service. Just heart.
Then came the folks who arrived with water, Gatorade, and anything they could think of to help ease the burden of those battling the blaze. Nobody organized it. Nobody asked. They simply showed up because that’s what people do here. That alone would have been enough to warm my heart.
But it didn’t stop there.
As the day went on, I saw posts from other regional businesses, specifically other bar and grills, reaching out with messages of support. These are places that could easily be seen as competition, yet there they were, offering help, extending care, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the owners who had just watched their livelihood disappear. “We are here. How can we help?” they wrote. No rivalry. No hesitation. Just neighbors being neighbors.
If you ever need a reminder of what makes this valley special, it’s moments like that. People who could have stayed quiet choosing instead to lift someone else up. Businesses that could have focused on themselves choosing instead to stand with another in their darkest moment. It’s the best of us. The part of small town life that doesn’t make headlines but makes all the difference.
We talk a lot about community, but this, this right here is what it looks like. It looks like firefighters sweating through their gear on a 90‑degree day. It looks like strangers handing out cold drinks. It looks like business owners reaching across the aisle to say, “You’re not alone.” It looks like compassion showing up before anyone has time to think twice.
Loss has a way of revealing character. And what I saw in the wake of that fire was a valley full of people who still believe in showing up, still believe in helping, still believe in each other. In a world that can feel divided and loud, this quiet, steady goodness is worth noticing. Worth celebrating. Worth holding onto.
Because when the smoke clears and the debris settles, what remains is the strength of a community that refuses to let anyone face hardship alone. And that, more than anything, is the story worth telling.
That is the true Best of the Valley. The people.
Bobbi Steffens resides in the Southern Valley and discovered her passion for writing through an unexpected path.
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