A 5 percent levy hike combined with an average increase in property assessment of 10 percent means Minot taxpayers will be paying more to fund local government in the coming year.
The Ward County Auditor/Treasurer Office is preparing to mail tax statements next week to property owners around the county. Whether taxes go up or down or stay the same will vary since some jurisdictions are requesting higher levies and others lower levies, while property assessments on which those levies are based have trended up.
For each $100,000 of home value in Minot, the tax on a house in the Minot Public School District is up about $70, according to levy information from the county. The school district and city levies are up about 6 mills and 7.6 mills, respectively, while Ward County and the park district mills are up slightly.
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Jill Schramm/MDN • Collette Scharpe, Ward County deputy auditor, removes tax statements from a printer in the auditor’s office Wednesday. The office is printing 34,717 property-tax bills that seek more than $64 million in tax collections. Taxpayers will begin receiving the bills next week.
Minot residents in South Prairie and Nedrose school districts also will see a tax increase overall. South Prairie's levy declined but Nedrose's levy is up due to about a 17 percent increase in tuition for those students who attend Minot High School. South Prairie and Nedrose are elementary districts that pay tuition to send their students to high school elsewhere.
The consolidated tax on each $100,000 of home value in the Minot School District is $1,476; in Nedrose, $1,327; and in South Prairie, $1,382.
In the city of Surrey, residents of the Nedrose District will see a nearly 31-mill increase in their overall tax, while those in the Surrey District will get a nearly 21-mill increase. The mill changes translate to a tax increase from 7.8 percent to 13 percent, assuming no change in property valuation.
Facing growth pressures, the City of Surrey's share of the levy is up from 46.73 mills to 71.68 mills, or 53 percent. The city added three employees and is incurring other rising costs that include the planned purchase of a police squad car, auditor Jason Vaagen said.
The overall tax per $100,000 of home value in Surrey is $1,214 to $1,306, depending on school district.
Burlington residents, who are dealing with post-flood recovery, will see their taxes rise about 2 percent, to about $1,380 per $100,000 of home value.
The consolidated levy is down for most cities in the county.
A 30 percent drop is occurring in Douglas, where construction of a fracturing sand plant to serve the oil field has expanded the tax base. The city's share of the levy dropped from nearly 81 mills to just over 9 mills.
With a few exceptions, rural residents should see their levies remain stable or drop unless they live in the Minot or Nedrose school districts. A lower levy might not necessarily mean a tax decline, though. Valuations for tax purposes on agricultural land are up 13 percent on average.
Ward County's levy is up from 72.58 to 73.02. Minot residents do not pay the county library levy, and cities with their own park systems do not pay the county park levy so their county levies are somewhat lower.