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Hub cities seek state help to reduce lingering oil‑boom infrastructure debt; bill would tap Energy Impact Fund
Summary
Senate Bill 2323 would authorize an annual $20 million appropriation from the Energy Impact Fund to help pay debt tied to oil‑industry infrastructure in Williston, Minot and Dickinson; sponsors and local officials said city debt created to accommodate the Bakken boom still limits local budgets.
Senate Bill 2323 drew testimony from local finance officers and municipal associations who described multi‑million‑dollar debt incurred to build airports, wastewater plants, roads and other infrastructure during the Bakken oil boom.
Sponsor Senator Brad Beckettall said the bill would provide a $20 million annual appropriation to the Energy Impact Fund for distribution to hub cities to reduce debt tied to oil‑related infrastructure. “This bill provides a $20,000,000 annual appropriation to the Energy Impact Fund for distribution to HUB Cities specifically to reduce the debt burdens that remain from infrastructure improvements necessary to accommodate the oil industry growth,” Beckettall said.
Beckettall and municipal witnesses said the debt load for some cities remains large. The finance directors who supplied the committee data described city totals and oil‑related portions of that debt: one set of figures in committee materials showed Williston with roughly $280 million in total debt and $249 million identified as oil‑related, Minot about $104.8 million total with $37.2 million oil‑related, and Dickinson roughly $90 million total with about $39.6 million oil‑related. Annual oil‑related debt service cited in testimony was roughly $25.2 million for Williston, $3.575 million for Minot and $5.35 million for Dickinson; committee members noted these figures were submitted by city finance officials.
Beckettall said the proposal would come from the state’s oil‑tax revenue stream and would require a revision to a Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) allocation: his draft reduces the SIF bucket from $400 million to $320 million (an $80 million reduction) so the program appropriation and other proposed general‑fund changes would not reduce other Operation Prairie Dog allocations.
Speakers backing the bill said the immediate revenue from gross production taxes went first to counties under the 2013 hub city law and that city debt grew during boom years before revenue adjustments fully followed. “The real problem with it — current revenue — they're able to keep up, but it was late coming,” said Jeff Simon, executive director of the Western Dakota Energy Association.
City finance directors described consequences beyond debt service: deferred maintenance, restricted ability to fund non‑oil‑related capital projects and higher local levies during the boom years. The League of Cities and Western Dakota Energy Association both supported the bill at the hearing; no formal action or vote was taken.
