Gorder spoke to the House Finance and Taxation Committee, which considered two farm tax relief proposals. One would allow farmers to qualify for property tax exemptions on their homes and farm buildings, regardless of how much income they earn in jobs away from the farm. Current law has income limits. The second bill would freeze agricultural land values at 1999 levels. Land values continue to rise even though farm income is not increasing, Gorder says.
Some legislators are skeptical of a freeze in land values.
Local governments set property tax rates, and they can cut rates to avoid having farmers pay a higher tax bill because of an increase in land value, says Rep. Al Carlson, R-Fargo. Carlson is chairman of the Finance and Taxation Committee. Rep. David Drovdal, R-Arnegard, says capping farmland values might result in a higher tax burden for small businesses and residents of small, rural towns. The legislation to impose a freeze also orders an interim legislative study of ways to make North Dakota's tax system less reliant on property taxes. Proponents of capping the land valuations says the formula used for determining values is archaic and unfair.