Here’s something interesting about the North Dakota income tax that surprised me. Yesterday I wrote about the monthly revenue report from the Office of Management and Budget. Overall, general fund tax revenues are up 16.7 percent through February as compared to last biennium. Income tax collections, in particular, continue to explode. Biennium to date personal…
If You Want People To Come To North Dakota, Eliminate The Income Tax
North Dakota has a labor shortage problem. On one hand, we can tout the state’s rock-bottom low unemployment rate – just 2.6 percent in January according to the latest numbers – as evidence of a booming economy. On the other hand, another report from North Dakota Job Service indicates that there is less than one…
North Dakota Ranks 6th In Nation For Corporate Income Tax Collections
George Mason University’s Mercatus Center has an interesting study out about taxes in the various states, and they’ve produced some revealing maps to go along with it. Like the one above, which shows North Dakota as having the sixth highest per-capita corporate income tax collections in the nation, coming in right behind California. That is…
Why North Dakota's Property Tax "Relief" Won't Work: State Money Isn't Free Money
State Senator Tom Campbell (R-Grafton) has a letter in the Grand Forks Herald today extolling the virtues of the state property tax spending (we have got to stop calling it “tax relief”) by explaining what the impact might be on the average property tax payer: Let’s assume you live in Grand Forks or Walsh County…
Oil Patch Continues To Trump Population Numbers In North Dakota Sales Tax Collections
The annual sales tax report is out from Commissioner Cory Fong’s office (see below), and it’s got some pretty interesting numbers. Overall, in 2012 the State of North Dakota saw taxable sales grow an astonishing 28.7%, an increase of more than $5 billion from $25.29 billion to $19.6 billion. What’s interesting is that most of…
Is North Dakota For Sale To Conservation Groups?
Over the Memorial Day weekend my family and I stopped off at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn (often derided as the world’s most expensive highway rest area by our legislators). The exhibits were underwhelming, to say the least, certainly not worth the more than $20 it cost my family to get in…
North Dakota Seeks To Take Advantage Of Minnesota Tax Hikes
Guest poster Mike Marcil, a North Dakota businessman, wrote here on SAB recently about the growing disparities between Minnesota and North Dakota taxes. “[A] family living in Moorhead making $60,000 per year will pay $3,626 per year in personal income tax vs. only $756 in North Dakota under the new tax rates,” he wrote. “A…
Dorso Column: Leadership Is Important
If you read my book When Governance Worked you’ll find that some of what was contained in those musings is relevant to this discussion of the recent legislative session. Over the years some things change but in reality much remains the same as when I served. The changes can usually be associated with the different…
North Dakota's Government Is Twice As Large As Minnesota's In Terms Of Gross State Product
Yesterday Governor Jack Dalrymple signed into law and praised income tax cuts that were twice as large as what he called for in his executive budget. In fact, had Dalrymple not budgeted for such tiny cuts to state income taxes, the state Senate wouldn’t have had the leverage to bully the House into slashing the…
Guest Post: Eliminating The Property Tax Is The Right Path Forward
I’d like to thank “Say Anything Blog” for printing John Dorso’s recent column, “Eliminate the Income Tax, Not the Property Tax.” Mr. Dorso purported to “dis” elimination of property taxes and at the same time tried to sound like he was “dising” the body of which he served as the former Republican House Majority Leader.…