Burgum’s regrets should be Armstrong’s priority

MINOT — In the final days of his term, former Gov. Doug Burgum cited his biggest regret, and it involved property taxes. He told reporter Michael Achterling that he wished the state hadn’t focused so much on solving rising property taxes by doling out money to local governments.

“There is still a belief that it is up to the state Legislature to direct these grants by taking tax money from certain people and sending it to local political subdivisions,” he said .

I hope the new governor, Kelly Armstrong, paid attention to these comments because Burgum is right.

He is right to name property taxes as one of the most important issues of his term. Take away the high-profile culture war ephemera, like book bans, and what you’re left with as the biggest and most perplexing political question facing North Dakota’s leaders over the past decade are property taxes.

A steady stream of tax revenue fueled by the oil and gas industry has allowed state leaders to invest billions and billions of dollars in various schemes to mitigate or hide rising property taxes. It is not surprising that Burgum and Parliament failed to find a way out of this quagmire through financial means.

Armstrong should take note. He will come under enormous pressure from local government lobbyists to do more of the same. Not because supporters of the status quo think it will work. It’s just that the alternative isn’t attractive.

The solution to rising property taxes is not for the state to buy local spending. These are probably not reforms, although Parliament can and should consider capping taxes.

The solution is for local taxpayers to accept the trade-off between spending and taxes.

If we want property taxes to go down, local spending must go down. “But where can we cut costs?” local leaders will cry. There’s definitely some fat on the bone (depending on which local taxing entity we’re talking about), but the locals will be right. Lower spending will result in some trade-offs. Perhaps fewer park facilities and municipal services.

It may also mean that residents must accept a different approach to development in their communities. Spacious neighborhoods may be what homeowners want, but all those big homes, surrounded by wide roads and sprawling lawns, create thousands of miles of roads and other infrastructure that must be built and maintained.

Burgum has been singing this tune since he first discussed running for governor with me in the winter of 2015. He has never achieved success because voters and the people they elect into government local people do not want change. They want big local government and low property taxes.

Armstrong should be familiar with this phenomenon. He’s fresh from Washington, D.C., where for generations Congress and various presidents have given Americans what they want: big government and low taxes subsidized by massive budget deficits.

In North Dakota, we do the same thing; only, we balance our budgets with tax revenues from oil and gas development.

For Armstrong and this Legislature to do anything meaningful on property taxes, they may have to get voters to put away their candy and eat a plate of broccoli.

Good luck. If they fail, another stupid ballot measure could be looming.