Kylie Oversen explains how Republicans are leaving North Dakotans with a higher property tax burden

Kylie Oversen, the Democratic-Nonpartisan League nominee in this year's election for the office of Tax Commissioner of North Dakota, now has a full campaign website for her bid for tax commissioner. On the "issues" page of her website, Kylie pointed out how Republicans in North Dakota have left North Dakotans with a higher property tax burden:

During the last legislative session, the legislative and executive branches eliminated the 12% property tax buydown and cut $115 million from property tax relief. After promises have been repeatedly broken by Republican leadership, Kylie is committed to working with leaders at all levels of government and on both sides of the aisle to create a plan for meaningful, lasting property tax reform.

Since I'm not from North Dakota, I had to do some online research about North Dakota property tax policy to understand what the property tax buydown that Kylie was referring to, and I found an article on the website of The Bismarck Tribune, a newspaper serving North Dakota's capital city and surrounding areas, about how some of the more populous North Dakota counties were having to raise property taxes because of the elimination of the property tax buydown:

Officials in the state’s largest counties are predicting property tax increases under changes enacted during the most recent legislative session.

[...]

The North Dakota Legislature this year eliminated the 12 percent property tax credit and instead implemented a two-year pilot program for the state takeover of county social services costs, suspending county authority to levy 20 mills for those programs.

In other words, the North Dakota Legislature, which is completely controlled by Republicans, is forcing county governments in North Dakota to raise property taxes while not providing any substantial improvement in services administered by county governments. This is yet another example of irresponsible, Republican-supported tax policy that hurts communities. While Republicans in states like Kansas have received a lot of criticism for their irresponsible fiscal policies, Republicans in North Dakota have enacted irresponsible fiscal policies of their own.

Kylie Oversen is a strong believer in common sense and, if elected to serve as North Dakota's tax commissioner, will be a strong advocate for responsible tax policies in North Dakota and will carry out the legal responsibilities of the North Dakota Tax Commissioner's office in the fairest, most responsible, and most efficient manner possible. That's why I encourage North Dakota voters to vote for Kylie for tax commissioner on November 6.