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Senators hear plan to mirror residence credit with flat agricultural property tax credit
Summary
A hearing on Senate Bill 2,363 focused on a proposed flat property tax credit for farmers and ranchers, with agriculture groups urging the Finance and Tax Committee to include ag land in broader tax‑relief packages; committee took no action pending review of multiple proposals.
Senate Finance and Taxation Committee members heard testimony on Senate Bill 2,363, a proposal to provide a flat property tax credit for farmers and ranchers similar to the primary residence credit.
Sponsor testimony and multiple agricultural organizations said the bill is intended to ensure rural property taxpayers receive relief alongside residential owners. “If we’re going to talk property tax relief, let’s not leave out ag land,” Senator Robert Erboli said while introducing the bill as a vehicle to begin that discussion.
The bill would create a single, per‑owner credit modeled on the primary residence credit. Testimony described the proposal as a simple, stackable supplement to larger residential relief measures being debated in other bills (for example, House Bill 1176). Matt Perdue, testifying for the North Dakota Farmers Union, said the bill “provides a $15.50 dollar property tax credit on agricultural property” and framed the bill as a complement to broader packages; Perdue also cited department data showing agricultural property accounted for about 19% of property tax collections (excluding special assessments) in 2024.
Speakers representing the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, North Dakota Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Corn Growers Association told the committee they support the concept and urged the committee to include agricultural property as lawmakers build overall relief packages. Pete Hanover of the Farm Bureau said the bill is intended to ensure “equitable relief to the rural areas of our state” and described maps and county heat‑maps included in testimony that show ag property is the dominant tax base in many counties.
Committee members raised legal and definitional questions. Vice Chairman Rummel and Senator Patton asked whether limiting a credit to agricultural owners could create legal issues if other commercial or centrally assessed classes were excluded; the sponsor and witnesses suggested the same statutory questions could apply to residence‑only credits and that eligibility definitions (for example, tying the credit to a farm home exemption or to income thresholds) would need further drafting.
No one testified in opposition. Chairman Weber closed the hearing and told members the committee would not take action that day and would wait until it had heard all property tax relief proposals before moving forward.
The hearing record includes requests for work on eligibility definitions (multi‑owner parcels; farm operator vs. owner status; income‑based thresholds) and a department estimate that the credit could affect roughly 20,000 taxpayers; committee members asked staff to clarify those points before any vote.
