“City property taxes are going to go up.” That’s what Blake Crosby, executive director of the North Dakota League of Cities, told me during a radio interview this week. His argument is that lawmakers dabbled in property tax policy, implementing buy downs of local property taxes funded by statewide surpluses, but did so without an…
ND Legislature Hall Of Shame Week 6: Rep. Lawrence Klemin And Rep. Nancy Johnson
It was tempting to name every single Republican who voted “no” on HB1256 this week to the SAB Hall of Shame, but I wanted to focus instead on those who rose to argue against the bill which would have created a central state database for all local spending in the state. Rep. Nancy Johnson spoke…
Shameful: ND House Votes Down Local Government Transparency Bill
Rep. Blair Thoreson has been a real champion when it comes to fighting for government transparency here in North Dakota. Back in the 2009 legislative session Rep. Thoreson introduced and got passed a bill creating an online database of all state government spending (you can see it here). Since then Rep. Thoreson has been trying…