City officials presented a proposal Thursday for a 1% public-safety sales tax to appear on the ballot in the June primary. The city’s preliminary estimate is the tax would raise roughly $7 million to $8 million a year; a draft allocation in city staff discussions would give 80% of receipts to the city and 20% to the county.

A city representative said the measure would follow North Dakota sales‑tax rules on taxable items and would not change state collections. Certain items that the state exempts (for example major motor‑vehicle purchases) would remain exempt from the local 1% local levy. The city is drafting a resolution and expects to return to both the city and county commissions with a formal resolution in October.

County commissioners asked how the county’s share could be spent and were told the draft envisions county funds being used for sheriff’s operations, rural fire departments, jail needs, emergency management and EMS. Commissioners also discussed whether county receipts should be used to offset property taxes and asked for clarification about whether the county could require property‑tax reductions as a condition of approving an intergovernmental allocation from city receipts; the city representative said the city’s draft did not include such a condition.

Commissioners emphasized they would want a clear revenue‑use agreement outlining allowable expenditures (personnel, overtime, equipment, capital expenses) and the timings for allocations before committing to support. The city representative said staff will prepare a formal resolution and deliver it to the city commission, then to the county commission for review; staff estimated returning to the county commission in October with formal documents.

No county action was taken at the meeting; commissioners asked for the formal resolution and for staff to present specific lists of taxable items, projected annual revenue, and suggested approaches to any property‑tax offsets.