The North Dakota Senate has approved a proposed state Constitutional amendment to do away with the statewide one-mill property tax for the UND Medical School.
That one-mill levy collects around $11 million per biennium for the med school. Its budget is roughly $246 million.
Stanley Republican Senator Jordan Kannianen is a sponsor. He told the Senate the intent is to replace the property tax money with general fund dollars. And Kannianen said it’s a matter of tax policy.
“It has nothing to do with any negative feelings toward the medical school…at all,” he said. “This is strictly property tax policy and tax policy in general. Sometimes when the issue of property taxes (comes) up, we hear people say, ‘Well, the state doesn’t have anything to do with property taxes,’ or ‘The state doesn’t collect property taxes; it’s a local issue.’ Well, technically that’s not true. We have this one-mill statewide levy.”
Fargo Republican Senator Judy Lee spoke against the amendment.
“I am a big supporter of that medical school and the various health professionals who come out of that program,” Lee said. “But I cannot support this resolution that would take away a small fraction of the budget, but a stable, steady constantly increasing fraction of the budget for the medical school which is a critical part of delivering health care in North Dakota.”
The Senate passed the amendment on a 29 to 18 vote. It will now be considered in the House. And if it passes there, it would be on the ballot in 2024.
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(KNOX / NDPPR)
(Photo: UND)
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