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Senate adopts tax commissioner budget but drops cooperative homeowners from primary-residence credit
Summary
The Senate adopted the conference committee report on House Bill 1,006, funding the Office of the State Tax Commissioner and reducing some reclassification/equity pay items, while the conference report does not extend the primary-residence credit to properties owned through cooperatives; senators spoke in support and protest before passage.
The Senate adopted the conference committee report on House Bill 1,006, the Office of State Tax Commissioner’s budget, after debate over pay adjustments and whether cooperative-ownership dwellings qualify for the primary-residence tax credit.
Senator Wojcick, who presented the conference report, told the chamber that the committee made three changes to the bill: a $50,000 reduction to a previously appropriated $511,800 for FTE reclassification and equity adjustments (bringing that line to $461,800); trimming a one‑time administrative appropriation for a tax-relief program from $1.5 million to $1.0 million for advertising and IT; and excluding sections the Senate had added to expand the primary-residence credit to properties owned through cooperatives.
The exclusion triggered objections from colleagues representing homeowners in cooperative arrangements. Senator Lee said she would not oppose the budget overall but was “terribly disappointed” that cooperative owners were “not been permitted to have the same primary home tax credit.” She said the ownership form is “no different from a condominium except for the paperwork” and that about 52 homeowners in Fargo and 58 homeowners in a Bismarck project were affected. Senator Baucher urged rejection of the conference committee report, calling cooperative ownership “a form of affordable housing” and asking for a verification vote. Senator Mather asked why the group was excluded.
Senator Wanzeck replied that the House Finance and Tax Committee classified cooperative interests as commercial rather than residential and “were adamantly dug in to resist” the change, noting the House perceived a cooperative arrangement already provided a tax break.
The conference committee report was adopted and the bill later passed final passage. The secretary recorded a final tally of 40 yeas, 0 nays, and 1 absent on final passage of House Bill 1,006.
The debate mixed policy and procedural points: advocates for cooperative owners said the exclusion left nearly 100 households without parity in the credit; supporters of the report and committee chairs said the House position blocked inclusion. The Senate record shows the budget adjustments and the decision not to carry cooperative expansion forward in this bill, while the appropriation for primary-residence credit itself was noted to be handled in a separate vehicle later in the session.
Looking ahead, proponents said they may pursue the cooperative inclusion again; the record shows the primary-residence appropriation was expected to appear in House Bill 11 76 (a separate bill considered later in the session).
