North Dakota Voters Reject Property Tax Ballot Measure

Roughly 64% of ballots were cast against the proposal in early results. The Associated Press called the race at 10:27 p.m.

Supporters characterized the voter-initiated measure as a way to give North Dakotans the meaningful property tax reform homeowners have long asked, but lawmakers have failed to deliver on.

To replace revenues lost by eliminating the tax, the proposal would have required the state to reimburse local governments every year by an amount no less than the property taxes those entities levy for the 2024 tax year.

Opponents of Measure 4 have said that the proposal would have caused funding disruptions to both local government and state services.

Chad Oban — chair of Keep It Local, a group that organized against the measure — said he was grateful the measure did not pass.

“Now, it’s really important that the Legislature and political (subdivisions) figure out a path forward on property taxes, so we’re not back here in a couple years,” Oban said.

Oban said he supports finding alternative means of providing property tax relief, but that he doesn’t have a specific stance on any others at this time. Since Keep It Local was formed to oppose Measure 4, it likely won’t remain an active voice on property tax policy, he said.

Supporters of the measure said the proposal was the state’s best option for property tax reform.

Rick Becker, chair of the measure’s sponsoring committee, said he attributes the loss to “fear of the unknown.”

“My main hope now is that the Legislature will finally once and for all take up true reform and true property tax relief,” he said.

A cost estimate approved by lawmakers that appeared on the ballot pinned the fiscal impact of Measure 4 at $3.15 billion for the 2025-2027 biennium. That figure was based on numbers from the Office of State Tax Commissioner.

Proponents of the measure called that estimate inflated and said the cost would actually be about $2.32 billion per two-year budget cycle.