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Lawmakers hear bill to restore $500 primary-residence credit for homes held in trust
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Summary
Sen. Mark Weber told the House Finance and Taxation Committee a drafting oversight left homes held in trust ineligible for a $500 primary-residence credit; the bill would apply retroactively for trust-held homes for tax years 2024 and 2025.
Senator Mark Weber, sponsor of the measure, told the House Finance and Taxation Committee that a drafting oversight left many trust-held homes ineligible for a $500 primary-residence credit passed two years ago. "If you recall, two years ago, we passed a bill that would give the primary residence credit of $500," Weber said, adding the exclusion of trust-held homes was unintended.
The bill presented to the committee would allow homeowners whose residences are held in trust to qualify for the $500 credit retroactively for tax years 2024 and 2025. Weber said roughly 2,500 applications had been rejected when the department interpreted the current language to exclude trusts and that the tax commissioner estimated another 1,500 homes might be affected.
Senator Judy Lee and other lawmakers pressed for broader language. Lee urged an amendment to capture cooperative ownership structures after describing a 52-unit cooperative building in South Fargo whose units share a single parcel and single property-tax statement. "I want you to give the $500 credit to each cooperative unit owner the same way as you are to a 50 condo unit building," Lee said, arguing owners should not be denied simply because an owner-occupancy regime uses cooperative legal forms.
Committee members and testifiers discussed draft language and a fiscal note. Committee chair Hedlund and others observed the fiscal note in the file and the online fiscal note did not match; Weber and staff said they would confirm the fiscal note and clean up statutory language to ensure the retroactivity is limited to trust-held properties and does not open the retroactive application to all late filers.
Linda Swajovic of the North Dakota Association of Counties testified in support and said the association had worked with Weber and the tax department on a deadline and on clarifying that section 2 of the bill applies only to qualifying trust properties. Swajovic also noted online testimony from a county auditor urging clarity to avoid opening the retroactive application to anyone.
The committee heard no formal opposition at the hearing and closed the public testimony segment before moving to the next bill. Staff and sponsors indicated they would submit amended language to clean up the retroactivity clause and confirm the fiscal note before the bill moves forward.
