Many Minot residents are seeing lower property tax bills in statements that have been arriving this past week.

The Ward County levy is up a bit, but Minot city, park and Minot Public School levies are down.

The consolidated levy for a Minot resident in the Minot School District is 341.76 mills, a reduction of 23.64 mills from last year, or about a $106 decrease per $100,000 of home value.

Residents of the Nedrose and South Prairie school districts saw some increase in their school property taxes.

A Minot resident in the Nedrose School District has a consolidated levy of 342.48 mills, a decrease of 14.29 mills, or about $64 per $100,000 of home value. A Minot resident in the South Prairie School District has a consolidated levy of 348.73 mills, a decrease of 17.94 mills, or nearly $81 per $100,000 of home value.

Much of the decrease is due to a reduction in the City of Minot’s mill levy from 119.76 mills to 97.41 mills, or about $100 per $100,000 of home value. The Minot City Council had voted 5-2 to draw from its reserve funds to balance the budget for 2025, accounting for the reduction in the tax.

“We overtaxed the citizens of Minot and we put that money back in the general fund so we could use it for a future purpose. That is not what we need to be doing with property tax,” council member Rob Fuller said at the October meeting. “That’s why we voted to give it back to them as property tax relief.”

The park district tax is down about $8 per $100,000 of home value. Residents of Minot School District would see a $15 decrease in the school levy, which is more than offset by nearly an $18 increase in the state and county tax per $100,000 of home value. The state levies 1 mill each year for the medical school.

Earlier this year, North Dakota residents also were invited to apply for a $500 primary residence credit from the state, which is an additional reduction in the latest tax bill for those who own eligible residences.

Any changes to the assessed value of a home that occurred in 2024 also will influence the total amount of property tax owed and the comparison from a previous year.

Mill levies are higher for other Ward County cities and notably in some cases. Berthold is an exception, but the consolidated levy is only down 1 mill, or about $4.50 per $100,000 of home value.

In Burlington, taxes are up nearly $78 per $100,000 of home value. City, school and county taxes all are up in Burlington, creating a consolidated levy of nearly $1,278 per $100,000 of home value before the $500 tax credit.

Surrey’s city and school taxes have changed little but park taxes are up slightly and fire district taxes have more than doubled to 10 mills. Surrey residents in the Nedrose School District are seeing somewhat higher taxes than those in the Surrey School District. Paying the largest total increase of about $75 per $100,000 of home value are those residents in Nedrose School District and Surrey Fire District.

Taxes in Surrey vary from $1,258 to $1,340 per $100,000 of property, depending on the location because of multiple school and fire districts. Those amounts are before the $500 tax credit.

The consolidated tax in Kenmare, before the credit, is $1,392 per $100,000 of home value. That is the second highest consolidated levy in Ward County behind about $1,538 in Minot. The exception is Nedrose Township residents who annexed into the Minot School District but are obligated to Nedrose school debt. That total tax per $100,000 of property is only very slightly more than in Kenmare.

Nearly all Ward County townships have higher consolidated levies. Residents of Burt and Ryder townships are seeing lower consolidated levies due to reductions in township taxes.

The average value of an acre of agricultural land in Ward County is down somewhat in 2024. The county adopted a county average of $576.63 an acre for tax purposes, which compares to $606.08 in 2023.

Minot levy per $100,000 home value

City of Minot:$438.34

Minot Park District:$208.98

Minot Public School:$613.57

Ward County:$272.52

State medical school:$4.50

Total, before tax credit:$1,537.92

Source: Ward County