The Tax Reform and Relief Advisory Committee voted unanimously to authorize Legislative Council staff and the tax commissionerto coordinate with counties and other taxing districts to gather information needed for interim work on tax reform and relief.

The committee, chaired by Chairman Beckettall, approved a motion made by Senator Weber and seconded by Senator Rummel to instruct the tax commissioner and Legislative Council staff to work with the North Dakota Association of Counties and taxing districts to collect property tax levy limit information and other materials the committee will need for its review.

The action responds to the committee's stated need for detailed fiscal and property data once fiscal-year accounting closes on June 30. Chairman Beckettall told members the committee likely will not receive "a lot of meaningful information" until after the fiscal year end and asked members and the public to provide supporting material and suggestions for the interim meeting schedule.

Megan Gordon of Legislative Council summarized the supplemental rules of Legislative Management and reminded members that committees must identify any expanded scope or subcommittee requests to the Legislative Management chairman. Gordon also outlined the department reporting authorities the committee can use to request data and the statutory requirement that Legislative Council receive final committee reports at the conclusion of the interim.

Committee members discussed scheduling and asked staff to refine the agenda for five planned interim meetings and to advertise specific topics so interested stakeholders can attend targeted sessions. The chair said staff would circulate the tentative meeting flow and requested member input before the next meeting.

The motion passed on a roll call that recorded affirmative votes from Chairman Beckettall, Senators Patton, Powers, Rummel and Weber, and Representatives Dressler, Greenheck, Hedlund and Viggasaw.

The directive aims to give Legislative Council staff and the tax commissioner notice and authority to seek records and coordinate directly with political subdivisions so the committee can analyze levy limits, exemptions and other tax-policy items during the interim.

Committee staff said they would present preliminary numbers and follow-up materials at subsequent meetings and urged political subdivisions to respond to data requests in a timely way.

Looking ahead, the committee will begin focused reviews once mid-summer fiscal reports and tax-year data are available; members said they expect the work to intensify between July and mid-August as local governments and the tax department produce year-end figures.