Ward County property owners will see their county tax increase by about 7% with the Ward County Commission’s adoption of $71.29 million in spending Friday.

The spending requires $20.6 million from the property tax for the county budget of about $64.2 million. The county also is levying $2.68 million toward a budget of $7 million for other entities.

Those entities are the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, Ward County Council on Aging, Ward County Water Resource Board, Souris River Joint Board, Ward County Soil Conservation, North Dakota State Fair and Assiniboine River Basin.

The tax on a $100,000 residential property is estimated at about $287, an increase of $19.35, for county residents outside Minot. Because Minot property owners do not pay the county library tax, the estimate is $272 per $100,000 of residential value, an increase of $17.46.