State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, left, and Jason Heitkamp, right. (Contributed via the North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor)-For the two candidates for superintendent of public instruction, a ballot measure to abolish assessment-based property taxes raises questions about how much the state should pay for public schools.
Schools are one of the main government services that could be impacted if the measure passes. Overall, the state covers about 70% of educational costs while local property taxes support another 23%, according to data published by the State Department of Public Instruction. Other revenue sources cover the rest.
Language in the ballot measure requires the state to reimburse local governments at minimum by an amount equal to the property taxes they levy for the 2024 tax year.
Heitkamp, a Wyndmere resident who served in the state Senate from 2021 to 2022, says there’s a better way to bring down the cost of property taxes.
One of the major tenets of his campaign is his belief the state has an unmet obligation to fund 100% of public school costs. He pointed to a provision in the North Dakota Constitution that states “the legislative assembly shall provide for a uniform system of free public schools throughout the state.”
“I believe if we were following the constitution, we would have between a 45-55% reduction in property taxes,” he told the North Dakota Monitor.
While in the Legislature, Heitkamp unsuccessfully brought a bill to require the state to cover the full cost of public education.
Heitkamp said if elected, he would seek to bring a lawsuit to enforce this mandate.
“We’re going to begin to close this funding gap,” Heitkamp said in a Friday debate with Superintendent Kirsten Baesler.
Baesler, who has served as superintendent since 2013, noted that the matter of school funding has already gone before the North Dakota Supreme Court. Previous lawsuits have resulted in the state increasing its funding for public schools, she said, but the high court has never ruled it was unconstitutional for local governments to have to pay a portion, too.
Still, she said the Legislature should see Measure 4 as a warning sign that local governments may soon come back to demand a larger share from the state.
“I see this measure as another alarm bell,” she said.
Baesler said while she is not a fan of property taxes, she will be voting no on Measure 4. She said she thinks it would be a mistake to completely abolish a source of tax revenue.
Baesler took home about 55% of the vote in the primary, while Heitkamp received 22%. Jim Bartlett, who was endorsed at the state Republican convention in April, received 20% and candidate Darko Draganic received about 3%.
Before becoming superintendent of public instruction, Baesler spent 24 years working for Bismarck Public Schools. She served on the Mandan School Board for nearly a decade.
Heitkamp currently works as a truck driver, though his employment history also includes time as a financial adviser, farmer and emergency medical technician, among other jobs. In 2022, he ran for District 25 of the House of Representatives, losing the Republican primary to Cindy Schreiber-Beck and Kathy Skroch. In addition to his time in the Legislature, he is a former Richland County commissioner and served on the Bottineau and Prairie Rose city councils.
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