Port: The voters are standing behind North Dakota's property tax cap

MINOT — During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers in Bismarck passed a property tax relief plan that paid a $1,600 credit to primary residence owners and capped growth in property tax levies at no more than 3%. Later that year, the North Dakota Association of Counties, at its annual meeting, passed a resolution calling for the cap to be removed. If there was ever any meaningful appetite to remove the cap among state lawmakers, it's a lot less now after the recent election. Two counties put on the ballot a request to exceed the cap. Divide County asked voters to approve an additional 2% in property tax growth; Traill County asked for an additional 6.41%. Both measures were defeated. In Divide County, 53.3% said "no." In Traill County, 61.6% said "no." These were the first two attempts by counties to exceed the property tax cap since it was implemented, and they both failed. Consternation over property taxes has been a hot topic in North Dakota politics