According to a Poll Voters Want to Tap Legacy Fund With Limits

(Graphic by Troy Becker/The Forum via the North Dakota Monitor)

(NORTH DAKOTA NEWS COOPERATIVE) – Most North Dakotans support using the state’s Legacy Fund to reduce property taxes even further and to pay for school lunches at public schools, but draw the line at using the sovereign wealth fund to cover private school vouchers, North Dakota Poll data shows.

Of those three, state legislators have only tapped into the Legacy Fund for property tax reductions so far, a decision made during the past legislative session. According to the latest poll numbers, 69 percent of respondents support using the Legacy Fund for additional property tax relief, while 25 percent oppose that action.

Respondents are also firmly behind the idea of local control of property tax rates. A total of 68 percent said those should remain with local political subdivisions, while 28 percent said those rates should be decided at the state level.

Former governor Edward Schafer, who played a key role in the creation of the Legacy Fund, said the idea that people want more local control but also want state tax revenue from the Legacy Fund to pay for property tax relief, doesn’t quite match up.