North Dakota Senate passes bill to update Renaissance Zone program

BISMARCK — Proposed modifications to North Dakota’s Renaissance Zone neighborhood growth program cleared the state Senate on Monday, a invoice in step with a plea from Gov. Doug Burgum to the Legislature final month.

Senate Invoice 2391, introduced by Sen. Jonathan Sickler, R-Grand Forks, handed in a 40-5 vote. The invoice now goes to the state Home of Representatives.

The 1999 Legislature created the Renaissance Zone Program; 62 communities have joined since, with 54 of them energetic. Greater than 1,500 tasks have been accomplished beneath this system.

Renaissance Zone tasks obtain as much as 5 years of tax breaks, however do proceed to pay property taxes on the land worth in the course of the exemption interval. North Dakota’s state Commerce Division manages the Renaissance Zone packages.

The invoice would lengthen this system’s profit time period from 5 years to eight, improve the extension of cities’ zone standing from increments of 5 years to 10, and permit a zone to have a second space outdoors its steady boundary however not more than three sq. blocks in dimension, amongst different modifications.

One other change would make properties eligible once more for Renaissance Zone advantages 30 years after a mission’s completion, to assist closely used, older buildings, based on Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson.

Burgum in his State of the State deal with to the Legislature in January referred to as on lawmakers to “reinvigorate” the Renaissance Zone program “by permitting extra flexibility and reentry into this system and to scale back purple tape and limitations to having tasks authorised.”

Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki mentioned the invoice “largely aligns” with what Burgum referred to as for in his speech.

The Home final month handed a invoice to permit communities to reenter the Renaissance Zone program. Zones in a number of cities, together with Bismarck, expired lately, with no approach to reapply. Home Invoice 1266 goes to the Senate.